Remittances Rose 8% in January

The Philippines' central bank said money sent home by Filipinos working overseas amounted to $1.68 billion in the first month of 2013—up by 8 percent from the $1.56 billion recorded in the same period last year, reports Inquirer.net. “Remittances were sustained on account of steady demand for skilled and professional Filipino workers abroad, as well as the continued expansion of global market coverage of remittance service providers,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement. The United States continued to be the biggest source of remittances, accounting for nearly 39 percent, or $653 million, of the total.Other sources of remittances were: Canada, which accounted for 11 percent of the total; Saudi Arabia, 7.6 percent; the United Kingdom, 5.3 percent; the  United Arab Emirates, 4.7 percent; Singapore, 3.9 percent; and Japan, 3.8 percent.