Personal remittances by overseas Filipino workers grew 5.3 percent to 13.37 billion USD in the first six months of 2015, according to the Manila Times. In June only, the remittance was recorded at 2.41 billion USD, an annual increase of 5.8 percent, marking the highest inflow in six months as demand for skilled Filipinos abroad remained stable. The United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Canada were the major sources of the cash remittances for the six-month period. As of June’s end, commercial banks’ established tie-ups, remittances centres, correspondent banks and branches/representative offices abroad have expanded by 18 percent to 5,541 units, the central bank reported. Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that there were 454,263 approved job orders within the period, 37.8 percent of which were intended for service, production, and professional, technical and related workers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates. The Philippines is ranked third worldwide in terms of remittances, after India and China. There are approximately 12 million Filipinos working abroad.-VNA