Stimulus cash helps Philippine remittances, says labor leader

STIMULUS spending by countries employing its workers is helping the Philippines maintain its remittances despite the global economic downturn, a labor leader said Sunday.

Remittances make up 10 percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP), and rose 13.7 percent in 2008 from a year earlier to $16.429 billion. GDP is total cost of all goods and services produced in a country in a year.

But there have been fears that this revenue will dry up in the coming months as jobs disappear in host countries.

The Philippine central bank has already recorded slumps in remittances from the main labor markets, including the US, Italy, Britain, Taiwan, Australia, and South Korea, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.

“We’ve never seen anything like this since the government embarked on an overseas employment program. The declines are widespread, on account of the severe and extensive global economic downturn,” said Ernesto Herrera, secretary-general of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and columnist of The Manila Times.

However, the decline in remittances from the major markets had been offset by stimulus spending in others, particularly Canada, Japan and Saudi Arabia, he said.

Remittances from these countries accounted for most of the 4.9-percent rise recorded by the central bank in February from a year earlier, to $1.32 billion, he said.

“Except for the US, it would seem that remittances from countries with aggressive economic stimulus plans remain somewhat robust,” Herrera said.

Saudi Arabia is rolling out new infrastructure, boosting demand for Filipino engineers and construction workers, while Japan is recruiting more foreign workers particularly in shipping, technology and services, he added.
— AFP With The Manila Times