Manila, Aug. 17 -- Money sent home by overseas Filipinos reached USD3.04 billion in June, the highest monthly level recorded in the first half of this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Preliminary data released by the BSP on Monday showed that the amount was 1.7 percent higher than the USD2.99 billion in cash remittances recorded last year.

"From a business perspective, the steady rise in remittances is supportive because these flows go directly into household spending," Robert Dan Roces, group economist at SM Investments, said.

For January to June this year, cash remittances amounted to USD17.15 billion, up by 2.4 percent from USD16.75 billion in the same period in the previous year.

The United States remained the to...