Personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFW) grew by 2.8 percent in the first semester to reach $17.1 billion from $16.6 billion in the same six months last year, thanks partly to recovering economies of some countries that host these expatriates.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), inflows in June alone grew by 4.4 percent to $3.1 billion from $2.9 billion in the same month of 2021.

The BSP said there were increases in receipts from both land-based Filipinos with contracts of more than a year (4.8 percent) as well as those from land-based and sea-based with contracts of less than a year (2.6 percent).

Of these inflows, cash remittances sent to the Philippines through banks increased by 4.4 percent to reach $2.8 billion on June from $2.6 billion in the same month of 2021.