$1.2-B remitted in March

MANILA = Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) rose at a faster pace
in February, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said recently.

BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said money sent home by OFWs grew by about 16 percent that month to $1.258 billion, causing remittances in the first two months to increase by 15.5 percent to $2.522 billion compared with $2.184 billion in the same period last year.

Month on month, remittances however dropped by 0.43 percent in February compared with $1.264 billion in January this year. The BSP forecasts remittances to increase to $15.7 billion this year from $14.449 billion last year.

“The continued strong growth in remittances could be attributed in part to the observed rise in the number of deployed skilled, and therefore higher paid, Filipino workers overseas,” Tetangco said.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration reported that the number of deployed new hires in the fields of engineering,
medical/healthcare, education, and food and hotel service rose year on year.

The number of deployed workers grew by 14.6 percent to 199,378 from 174,046 a year ago. By deployment, land- and seas-based workers increased by 13 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively.

Tetangco said the sustained growth in the level of remittances was also supported by local banks? enhanced services such as mobile banking, as well as the expansion in tie-ups with foreign financial institutions.

The major sources of remittances were the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo earlier said stable remittance inflows, which would likely offset the impact of high oil prices, would prop up domestic economic growth.

Increasing demand for OFWs would support the peso’s strength against the dollar and temper inflation.

Guinigundo said the government has no need of cutting its growth forecast of 6.3 percent to 7 percent this year, as remittance-led consumption and exports would fuel overall economic expansion.

The Development and Budget Coordinating Committee is set to review its
macroeconomic and fiscal targets to assess the impact of higher oil prices.

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