OFW families saving less – BSP survey

MANILA, Philippines – The number of families of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) that allocated funds for savings and investments fell in the first quarter from the previous three months, a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas survey showed.

The latest Consumer Expectations Survey showed OFW households that saved part of their remittances slid to 39.4 percent in the first quarter from 42.1 percent in the fourth quarter last year.

Those which allocated some of their remittances for investments, meanwhile, also went down to 5.1 percent from 6.8 percent.

The survey showed that the bulk of remittances received by households are used for food and other household needs, education, medical expenses, and debt payments.

Remittances last year continued to support private consumption, the main driver of the domestic economy.

Cash remittances from OFWs rose 5.8 percent to $24.308 billion last year from $22.968 billion in 2013 or about 8.5 percent of the gross domestic product in 2014.

The bulk of funds came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and Canada.

The continued strong inflows of remittances was due to the sustained demand for Filipinos abroad. Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Association showed there were 1.6 million Filipinos deployed last year, while job orders increased 10.7 percent to 878,609.

Moreover, the central bank said the continued expansion of local banks’ services abroad supported the growth of remittances last year.

The latest CES survey was conducted from Jan. 26 to Feb. 5 and covered 5,818 households. –Kathleen A. Martin (The Philippine Star)