Manila  - Remittances from overseas Filipinos rose by 9.42 per cent in March despite troubles in the United States economy, the government said Thursday.

The central bank said a total of 1.42 billion dollars were remitted to the country in March, 9.42 per cent higher than the 1.30 billion dollars remitted for the same month last year.

The bank said the March 2008 inflows brought to 3.95 billion dollars the total remittances in the first quarter of the year, 13.20 per cent higher than the 3.48 billion dollars recorded for the same period last year.

"Remittances during the first three months of 2008 reflected the rising number of Filipino workers abroad," the bank said in a statement.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that a total of 263,129 Filipinos left for jobs abroad in the first three months of the year,
13.6 per cent more than the 231,647 recorded in the same period in 2007.

Last year, a total of 14.44 billion dollars were remitted by more than 8 million overseas Filipinos, helping boost the local economy (dpa)