PERSONAL Equity and Retirement Account (Pera) contributions reached P329.55 million at end-2022, a 30 percent increase from the P253.35 million recorded a year earlier. The number of Pera contributors, on the other hand, increased by 16 percent to 5,100 in 2022 from 4,382 in 2021. About 3,600 employed individuals had contributed P223.71 million to the fund as of end-2022, followed by 721 overseas Filipino workers and 785 self-employed individuals who invested P60.58 million and P45.25 million, respectively. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas launched PERA in 2016. Pera is a voluntary retirement savings program that supplements state-based pension plans and employer-sponsored retirement plans. (PR)