MANILA, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3.32 billion U.S. dollars in July, 2.5 percent higher than the amount recorded in July last year, the Philippine central bank said on Friday.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the remittances from January to July grew by 2.9 percent to 20.91 billion dollars from 20.33 billion dollars recorded during the same period in 2022.

The BSP said the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first seven months of 2023.

Personal remittances remain a significant source of the Southeast Asian country's foreign exchange inflows. Filipinos overseas send an annual remittance equivalent to about 10 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product (GDP).

Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos hit an all-time high of 36.14 billion dollars in 2022, 3.6 percent higher than the 34.88 billion dollars recorded in 2021. The full-year 2022 level accounted for 8.9 percent of the country's GDP.