Manila: Personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) went up by 3.2 percent in July this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. Data released by the BSP on Monday showed that personal remittances amounted to USD3.43 billion in July from USD3.32 billion a year ago. The BSP said the increase was due to higher remittances from land-based workers with contracts of one year or more and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year. Personal remittances cover cash sent through banks and informal channels and also remittances in kind. Cash remittances coursed through banks and informal channels rose by 3.1 percent to USD3.08 billion from USD3.99 billion in July 2023. "The expansion in cash remittances in July 2024 was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers," the BSP said. For the first seven months of the year, personal remittances went up by 3 percent from USD20.91 billion last year to USD21.53 billion in January to July this year. Of t he total, cash remittances grew by 2.9 percent to USD19.33 billion from USD18.79 billion last year. The BSP said the increase in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates contributed to the expansion. The United States continued to be the biggest source of remittances during the period, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. Source: Philippines News agency