MANILA, PHILLIPPINES- Filipinos working abroad sent home a record 1.48 billion dollars in May, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said Wednesday, giving Manila hope it could avoid recession this year.

Remittances for the five months to May grew 2.8 percent to 6.98 billion dollars.

"The stream of remittances from overseas Filipinos continued to show signs of strength despite lingering global economic fragilities, providing some basis for cautious optimism regarding steady remittance levels for 2009," central bank governor Amando Tetangco said.

The bank earlier this month predicted remittance growth would be nil this year as the recession took hold in many of the countries where the Philippines' nine million overseas workers are based.

The cash transfers are the main impetus for the private consumption that fuels the domestic economy.

However, economic growth slowed to 0.4 percent in the three months to March as key exports in the electronics sector plunged, causing thousands of job losses.

The World Bank has said it sees the Philippine economy contracting this year due to the fall in exports and its expectation that remittances would also dive.