Central bank says IT-BPO earnings likely hit $24.4bn this year

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, expects earnings of the IT and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector to reach USD24.4 billion this year, up 10% from last year. Given the projected figure, IT-BPO earnings are set to grow faster than remittances from Filipinos working abroad. According to the BSP, cash remittances are expected to reach USD29.2 billion this year, representing a growth rate of only 4%. IT-BPO receipts and remittances are the two major drivers of the Philippine economy. The BSP added that remittances processed through banks reached USD11.82 billion as of the end of May, up 4.2% from USD11.35 billion for the same period in 2017. These cash remittance figures are traced through banks, correspondent banks and remitters from the US, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, UK, Japan, Qatar, Hong Kong, Germany and Kuwait.