Remittances of overseas Filipinos hits new high

Despite the massive departure of Filipino workers from Saudi Arabia, remittances from Filipino migrants and overseas contract workers hit a new high from January to June this year, a mid-year Philippine central bank (BSP) report showed.
Remittances during the period totaled $10.7 billion, up 5.6 percent from the same period last year, slightly above the 5 percent central bank forecast.
The six months to June for three quarters of total transfers were from Filipinos in the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Canada and Japan. They were the main sources of cash remittances, according to GMA News.
In a statement, the central bank said money sent home through banks both by contract workers (known as OFWs or Overseas Filipino Workers) and migrants grew at an annual rate of 5.8 percent to $1.916 billion in June, the largest cash transfer recorded in the first six months.
Reacting to the new record, Rasol Abbas, who works in Riyadh, told Arab News that the contribution of overseas Filipinos to the Philippine economy remains a major player and keeps up the vibrant economy of the country.
“This huge amount makes our country’s economic strong and sustainable,” Abbas said. He observed that the Aquino administration should appreciate this by giving OFWs better facilities instead of treating them merely as a source of revenue generation.
Jun Aguilar, a former OFW and now President/CEO of FMW Group Holdings Inc., expressed his disappointment over the last state speech of President Benigno S. Aquino by not mentioning OFWs in his speech.
“This is what I can say about the SONA,” Aguilar said.
“Let me simply put the challenge to the president and his economic managers after they completely ignored the OFW’s for the nth time,” he said. “Last month’s remittance breached the $2 billion mark, an all-time record. It was better than all foreign investments (direct and indirect) combined. Remove the figures of remittances from their economic data and let’s see what his SONA would look like. I’m pretty sure they’ll gonna end up scratching their heads.”
Money transfers last June were faster than the 5.3 percent recorded in May and the 4.2 percent in June 2012.
Victor Abola, a senior economist of the University of Asia and the Pacific, noted that the amount of remittances basically reflects seasonal trends. “May and June are usually the highest remittances months due to the enrollment seasons,” he said.
Personal remittances, which include cash transfers made through banks and hand-carry transfers in cash and in kind, hit $2.102 billion in June, up 5.7 percent year-on-year, central bank data showed.
In the first semester, personal remittances amounted to $11.82 billion, a 6.2 percent improvement.
Abola maintained that the cash transfers should continue to support domestic spending and investment in real estate.
“This will then add to the country’s economic growth,” he added. The central bank said overseas demand for skilled workers remained strong.
Remittances remained robust partly on the back of continued increase in the demand for skilled Filipinos abroad,” the BSP said in the statement. Expanded operations of remittances service across the globe also broadened the volume of remittances through banking channels.