Remittances defy overseas gloom

MONEY sent home by Filipinos working abroad continued to improve in May despite the uncertainties overseas, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.

In a statement, BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said remittances coursed through banks reached $7.9 billion in the first five months of the year, up 6.2 percent from the year-ago $7.4 billion.

In May alone, remittances rose by 6.9 percent to reach $1.7 billion, the second highest level since December 2010 when a record $1.69 level was realized, Tetangco said.

The BSP attributed the sustained growth in cash transfers from overseas Filipino workers to the 21.4 percent and 3.6 percent increase in remittances of sea- and land-based workers.

Remittance flows continued to draw support from the steady overseas demand for Filipino skills and expertise and the continuing efforts of banks and other financial institutions to extensively promote and improve upon the financial products and services they offer in the remittance market, Tetangco said.

The major sources of remittances were the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, UK, Japan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Italy and Germany.

Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that Filipino worker deployment abroad continues, offsetting the job losses resulting from the social unrest in the Middle East and North African region and the disasters that occurred in Japan.

“This, combined with the growing presence of bank and non-bank money transfer channels both locally and internationally as well as the expanding variety of products and services offered by the remittance networks, has enabled overseas Filipinos to send a higher value of remittances using more innovative financial services in the market,” Tetangco said.

POEA data indicated that the total number of deployed OFWs in 2010 grew by 3.4 percent to 1,470,826 from 1,422,586 in the same period the year before.

Of the total deployed overseas workers, 76.4 percent were land-based workers.

Employment opportunities are expected to rise as the POEA reported that as of the first half of this year, approved job orders reached 330,498, of which 33.3 percent had been processed. The remaining 66.7 percent has yet to be filled up. These job orders were intended for the manpower requirements in UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Taiwan and Hong Kong, among other countries, for production, service, professional, technical and other related workers.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment, the Saudization program will have a minimal impact on the existing and future deployment of Filipino workers to Saudi Arabia.

Large Saudi companies are already 80 percent compliant with the Saudization program. Only overseas Filipinos who are employed by small establishments will likely be most affected, as they have largely been non-compliant with the program, the BSP said.

The government is exploring job opportunities offered by other countries such as Australia and Canada to make up for lost jobs in Saudi Arabia.

The BSP is optimistic it would hit the 7 percent growth projection in remittances this year to $20.1 billion. –LAILANY P. GOMEZ REPORTER, Manila Times