OFW households saving, investing less

MANILA, Philippines – Families of Filipinos working and living abroad are saving and investing less as they prioritize their spending amid the turbulence in the global financial markets, a survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Results of the Consumer Expectations Survey for the Third Quarter 2015 showed a decline in the number of overseas Filipino workers’ households allocating remittances for savings to 38.2 percent in the third quarter from 49.7 percent in the second quarter.

Likewise, the percentage of OFW households allocating remittances for investments fell to 6.2 percent in the third quarter from 6.7 percent in the second quarter.

Rosabel Guerrero, director of the BSP’s Department of Economic Statistics, said households receiving remittances from their loved ones working and living abroad are prioritizing their spending resulting to a decline in the percentage using remittances for savings and investments.

“The lower savings outlook could be due to respondents’ increased expenditures on education and health as well as the anticipated higher spending for other basic goods and services for the current and next quarters,” Guerrero said.

The survey was conducted from July 1 to 15 and covered 5,754 household respondents. Of the total respondents, 563 households received remittances from Filipinos working and living abroad.

The survey showed 99.6 percent of the beneficiaries used remittances for food and other household needs, for education with 71 percent, for medical expenses with 63.1 percent, and debt payments with 45.3 percent.

Likewise, the number of respondents allocating remittances for the purchase of appliance went down to 23.1 percent in the third quarter from 24.8 percent in the second quarter while for motor vehicles also declined to 7.6 percent from 8.4 percent.

Cash sent home by Filipinos living and working abroad grew by 5.6 percent to $12.08 billion in the first half of the year from $11.45 billion in the same period last year as cash remittances in June zoomed to its highest level so far this year on the back of sustained demand for skilled Filipino manpower overseas. Major sources of cash remittances from January to June this year were the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and Canada.

Statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed job orders reaching 454,263 and more than a third were intended for service, production as well as professional, technical and related workers in Saudi Atabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan, and UAE.

Cash sent home by overseas Filipinos in June was the highest so far this year. It grew 6.1 per- cent to $2.18 billion from $2.05 billion in the same month last year. It was the highest since December when Filipinos abroad sent home $2.32 billion to their loved ones in the Philippines. –Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star)