Last Updated: Thursday, 15 February 2007
Filipino remittances hit $12.8bn http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6364143.stm
[Globally, remittances make up about $230 bn]
Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas last year totalled a record $12.8bn (£6.5bn), the Philippines' central bank has said.
The remittances - a 20% rise on 2005 - account for about 10% of the country's economy, the bank added.
Most of the eight million overseas workers are in the US or Middle East. According to the World Bank, the Philippines is the fifth-largest recipient of foreign remittances behind India, China, Mexico and France.
It has forecast that Filipinos will send home about $14.1bn this year.
Their remittances play an increasingly significant role in boosting domestic consumption.
In December 2006 alone, $1.3bn was sent back to the Philippines, the highest amount sent in a single month of the year.