OFWs remit $10B to Manila in 7 months

MANILA – Despite the ongoing global financial and economic crisis, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remitted a total of $10 billion from January to July this year, the head of the Central Bank (CB) reported.

CB Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the OFW remittances surged to $1.5 billion in July, posting the highest year-on-year growth for 2009 at 9.3 percent and bringing to $10 billion the total for the first seven months of the year.

But despite the 9.3 percent year-on-year growth in July, Tetangco admitted this pales in comparison to the 24.6 percent growth recorded in July 2008 when remittances rose to $1.4 billion from $1.09 billion in July 2007.

Nevertheless, Tetangco insisted the latest figures indicate that remittances would stay robust throughout the year despite the adverse impact of the global recession that has affected many countries playing host to OFWs.

Earlier, the World Bank and other international financial institutions warned that the Philippines would suffer from a decrease in remittances from the estimated nine million Filipinos working abroad due to the crisis.

Tetangco, however, confidently projected that based on the sustained remittance flows at the start of the second half of the year (July), and amid signs of improving global economic conditions, remittances are to remain stable for the remainder of 2009.

These remittances, he pointed out, will also continue to be a major driver for the country’s economic growth as it tries to emerge from the crippling global economic slowdown.

Tetangco predicted they expect the dollar inflows from OFWs this year to equal the $16.4 billion recorded in 2008.

The CB chief attributed the sustained demand for Filipino workers worldwide, who are deployed mostly in the Middle East, the US and North America, the United Kingdom and Italy in Europe as well as neighboring Asia-Pacific countries such as Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Korea.

Boosting the increase in remittances is the greater access by OFWs and their beneficiaries to expanded remittance transfer facilities by local banks with their counterparts in the host countries, according to Tetangco.

Aggressive marketing efforts of banks and non-bank remittance centers to provide enhanced financial services are anticipated to further facilitate the flow of remittances, Tetangco stressed.

He cited a report from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration which showed a decrease in the number of OFWs who have been displaced as a result of the global recession.

The decrease, Tetangco explained, reflected the signs of adjustment and subsequent stabilization in the global economy.

He also emphasized that aside from labor agreements forged with other countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Taiwan, the government has started crafting guidelines on the deployment of OFWs to provide the manpower requirements for the massive military base expansion in Guam starting in 2010.

Reports are that the US needs at least 50,000 foreign workers, most of whom are to come from the Philippines, for the expansion of its military facilities in Guam.

Related News and Articles:

• No Related News and Articles