MANILA—Before the outbreak of tension in Middle East and North African countries, remittances from overseas Filipinos increased by 7.6 percent to US$1.48 billion.

Remittances reached $1.476 billion in January, up $104 million from $1.372 billion in January 2010, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said.

Money transfers by sea-based overseas Filipino workers rose 13.3 percent, those of land-based Filipino workers abroad went up 6.2 percent during the same period, the central bank said.

The bulk of inflows came from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the UK, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Italy. Cash transfers from these countries accounted for more than four-fifths (80.1 percent) of the total inflows reported by local banks.
“Remittance flows into the country remained resilient on the back of sustained demand for skilled overseas Filipino workers in different destinations worldwide,” Tetangco said.

The continued enhancement of financial services worldwide through tie-ups with foreign financial institutions, establishment of remittance centers and marketing offices abroad, as well as the stronger partnerships forged with correspondent banks and branches/representative offices abroad also helped shore up the flow of remittances into the country, Tetangco said.

He added that the expansion of the remittance network indicated the continuing efforts of local banks and other financial institutions to capture a larger market share of the global remittance industry and provide safe, affordable, and accessible fund transfer system for the overseas Filipino workers and their beneficiaries.