THE PHILIPPINES

Remittances From Abroad Up 9.7%: The amount of money sent home from abroad by residents of the Philippines rose 9.7% in the first four months of the year, helping make the peso stronger against the dollar. Remittances are likely to accelerate in the second half of the year. Analysts said remittances usually surge in the last quarter of the year when Filipinos living abroad send home more money as Christmas gifts to their families. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said remittances from January to April totaled $794.9 million, up $70.5 million from a year ago. At that pace, total remittances will surpass $2.5 billion for the whole year. In 1993, $2.3 billion was remitted through banks.