By Lee C. Chipongian Bank-channeled cash remittances went up by 4.1 percent year-on-year to $9.7 billion as of end-April, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. Personal remittances also increased by 3.7 percent to $10.4 billion. The BSP last week said they still expect total remittances to grow by three percent this year, unchanged from its previous projection made last November 2018. Cash remittances was boosted by the 2.2 percent growth in land-based workers’ transfer amounting to $1.8 billion during the period, while sea-based workers remitted $600 million, up 10.6 percent. For month of April alone, cash remittances was up by four percent year-on-year to $2.4 billion while personal remittances grew by 3.7 percent to $2.7 billion. The BSP said that by country source, the US remains the top source of remittances with 35.9 percent share of the total (mainly because much of remittance channels are based in the US) followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Qatar and Germany. “The combined remittances from these countries accounted for 78 percent of total cash remittances from January to April 2019,” said BSP. In reassessing its external accounts projections for 2019, which includes remittances as part of financial account, the BSP considered the downward revision in global growth outlook and the moderate global trade outlook which will be affected by the US-China trade conflict. The three-percent remittances growth estimate is modest compared to past year's 4-5 percent growth.