MANILA - Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 2.88 billion U.S. dollars in May, 3.7 percent higher than a year earlier, the Philippine central bank said Monday. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the cumulative personal remittances grew by 3 percent to 14.89 billion dollars from January to May this year, from 14.46 billion dollars recorded in the same period of 2023. The BSP said the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore contributed mostly to the increase in the first five months of 2024. Personal remittances remain a vital source of foreign exchange inflow to the Philippines. According to the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines is among the top 10 global recipients of remittances. There are an estimated 10 million Filipinos overseas. The BSP data showed that personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached an all-time high of 37.2 billion dollars in 2023, 3 percent higher than the amount recorded in 2022. The full-year 2023 remittances represented 8.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.