MANILA -- Cash remittances coursed through banks from overseas Filipinos hit $2.502 billion in November 2021, 5.1 percent higher compared to the $2.379 billion in the same period in 2020, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.

The figure brought the January to November 2021 cash remittances to $28.43 billion, 5.2 percent higher compared to $27.013 billion from a year ago, the BSP said in a statement.

"The expansion in cash remittances was due to the increase in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers," it said.

Growth in cash remittances from the United States, Taiwan and Malaysia "contributed largely" to the increase in the January to November 2021 period, BSP data showed.

Personal remittances, meanwhile, grew 4.8 percent to $2.77 billion in November from $2.643 billion in the same month last year, data showed.

This resulted in a 5.3-percent increase in the cumulative personal remittances to $31.586 billion in the first 11 months of 2021, the BSP said.

In terms of country sources in overall remittances, the US posted the highest share, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Taiwan, Qatar and South Korea.

The BSP has been seeking cooperation with its ASEAN peers to ease cross-border payments between nations.

In November, the Philippines and Singapore signed a cooperation agreement aimed at facilitating interoperable payments between the two countries. The BSP said it is working on a same pact with Indonesia and Malaysia.

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• Remittances seen to grow 6 percent in 2021, 4 percent next year: BSP

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