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Thursday, February 16, 2006
OFW remittances rise 25% to reach $10.7B
MANILARemittances by millions of Filipinos working overseas in 2005 jumped 25 percent to a record $10.7 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday.
Remittances in December alone rose 10.7 percent from a year earlier to $962 million, the BSP said in a statement.
Rise
“The sustained rise in the level of remittances for 2005 was largely due to the increase in the number of Filipinos working abroad,” it said, adding the deployment of more highly-skilled workers earning more also contributed to the movement.
The bulk of remittances come from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. earlier said he expects remittances this year to hit $13.5 billion. In 2004, remittances rose 11.8 percent to $8.5 billion.
The lure of higher-paying jobs overseas has seen about eight million Filipinos going abroad with nearly a million finding work overseas every year.
The money sent home by these workers plays a crucial part in propping up the country’s cash-starved economy and the rise in remittances in recent months has helped push the Philippine peso to three-year highs this week. (AFP)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 16, 2006 issue)
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