More families of OFWs now save, invest remittances, says BSP

MANILA – More households of overseas Filipino workers are saving their remittances and less are spending on medical needs and education, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

The survey conducted by the BSP showed that the percentage of OFW-dependent households allocating portions of their remittances to savings rose to 42.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from 39.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. It also showed that the proportion OFW beneficiaries who invested the remittances inched up to 5.8 percent in the first quarter from 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Households that used OFW remittances to buy consumer durables and motor vehicles also went up to 28.4 percent from 26.2 percent and 10.3 percent from 7.7 percent, respectively.

In contrast, the percentage of OFW-dependent families paying debt during the comparative periods went down to 42.4 percent in from 44.1 percent.

Out of the 464 OFW households surveyed the BSP, 96.6 percent used the remittances for food during the first quarter, up from 95.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

This was followed by education at 67.2 percent in the first quarter, down from 68.8 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. The percentage of those paying for medical bills also dipped to 59.1 percent from 65.5 percent.

Data from BSP showed that remittances grew 8.4 percent to $1.9 billion in January this year from $1.7 billion last year.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) revealed that the number of OFWs sneding money back home increased by seven percent to 1.8 million from 1.69 million in 2011.

For the full-year of 2012, remittances reached $23.8 billion, higher by 6.4 percent compared to the level recorded in the same period of the previous year. –Darwin G Amojelar, InterAksyon.com