Wednesday, April 16, 2008 OFW remittances reach US$1.3 billion
REMITTANCES sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through banks have reached US$1.3 billion in February 2008.
Records of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) indicated that year-on-year remittances of OFWs grew by 16.1 percent and year-to date level went up to 15.5 percent or US$2.5 billion as compared to the same period 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,” BSP said in a statement.
Quoting the reports of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), BSP said in 2007 the number of deployed new hires in the fields of engineering, medical/healthcare, education, and food/hotel service rose compared to the levels in the previous year.
“This trend has continued in 2008 as preliminary data for the period January to February 2008 showed that the number of deployed workers rose by 14.6 percent to
199,378 (from 174,046 a year ago),” the Bangko Sentral added.
By skill type, both the numbers of land-based and sea-based workers increased by 13.0 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively.
The sustained growth in the level of OFW remittances was also supported by local banks’ provision of enhanced banking services (such as mobile banking services) and continued tie-ups with foreign financial institutions that facilitated the transfer of remittance to beneficiaries.
The bulk of remittances, BSP said, remains to come from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Earlier, recruitment companies are proposing the pay-rolling system to help OFWs cope with the strengthening of the peso against the dollar. (MSN/Sunnex)
