Money sent home by overseas Filipinos continued to post modest growth in May, underscoring the vulnerability of remittance flows as tensions from the prolonged conflict in the Middle East threaten to disrupt the livelihoods of migrant workers.

Cash remittances sent through banks rose 2 percent from a year earlier to $2.7 billion, according to data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The pace matched April’s increase, leaving remittance growth at its slowest in four years.

In the first five months of the year, cash remittances totaled $14.1 billion, up 2.5 percent from a year earlier. That, however, remained below the BSP’s downwardly revised forecast of 2.7-percent growth for full-year 2026.