DoLE project sustained OFW remittances this year

If the current trend is sustained, remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) this year may likely equal if not surpass the $17 billion registered last year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque affirmed the projection even as the distinctive global preference for OFWs continues to complement the worldwide efforts to dispel the lingering effects of the global financial crisis.

Roque pointed to a report of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that OFW remittances, underpinned by a steady global demand for OFWs reached $6.98 billion in the first five months. The five-month figure, averaging almost $1.4 billion per month, represents a growth rate of 2.8 percent compared to the level previously registered in the same period in 2008.

Earlier, a stronger-than-expected level reaching $16.4 billion in 2008, representing a growth rate of 13.7 percent compared to the figure in 2007, had been remitted by the OFWs to the country’s economy, at the same that global OFW deployment attained a new record level reaching 1,376,823 (up 27.8 percent) in 2008, compared to 1,077,623 in 2007.

Subsequently, preliminary figures furnished by the DoLE’s Philippine Overseas Employment Administration indicated that the growth trend had sustained, as the total global deployment of OFWs grew by another 27.3 percent to 283,348 in the first two months (January to February) of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.

Roque said the global crisis’ effects had been counterweighed effectively by the strength of continuous DoLE bilateral missions, which assured continuing opportunities for OFWs, while activating interventions to dispel the crisis’ impact, and push back displacement in vulnerable overseas economies.

As a result of such bilateral efforts spurred by the country’s network of Philippine Overseas Labor Offices in strategic areas worldwide, the Labor chief said that RP had forged successful accords leading to increased opportunities for OFWs. –Mina Diaz, Daily Tribune