MONEY sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) rose for a second straight month in October, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Thursday.Personal remittances totaled $3.23 billion, 3.5-percent up from a year earlier. The last time it was higher was in July at $3.24 billion, central bank data showed. 'The increase in personal remittances in October 2022 was due to higher remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year,' the BSP said. The year-to-date tally rose to $29.72 billion, 3.1 percent higher compared to the $28.82 billion posted in January-October 2021. Cash remittances coursed through banks grew by 3.5 percent to $2.91 billion from $2.81 billion. This raised the 10-month total to $26.74 billion, a 3.1-percent expansion from a year earlier. The United States accounted for the largest share of year-to-date remittances at 41.7 percent, followed by Singapore (7.0 percent) and Saudi Arabia (5.9 percent). The BSP qualified that the US took the top spot as remittances are commonly coursed through correspondent banks, most of which are located in the US. Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. said the higher remittances boded well for consumer spending, which accounts for 73.6 percent of the economy.'The continued growth in OFW remittances may be attributed to the relatively higher prices/inflation that may have required the sending of more remittances to cope up with higher prices of goods and services in the country,' he added. The low single-digit growth in recent months, meanwhile, 'may have to do with the higher US dollar versus the peso in recent months.' Still, OFW remittances and the peso exchange rate are expected to keep improving 'in view of the seasonal increase in holiday spending that could increase further amid no more [mobility] restrictions recently,' Ricafort continued.