OFW inflows up 2.6% to $5.5 billion in January-April

MANILA, Philippines – Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached $1.4 billion in April, bringing the four-month total so far to $5.5 billion – an expansion of 2.6 percent compared with levels recorded over the same period in 2008, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

BSP data indicated that remittance inflow is still expanding but only slowly, with growth rates dropping down to single-digit levels for the first time in over two decades.

But the April growth rate – although lower than usual – still defied expectations that remittances would actually start declining this year as Filipinos overseas begin to lose jobs in the wake of the global recession.

The BSP said that remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks reached $1.4 billion in April 2009, registering a year-on-year growth of 2.2 percent, bringing the cumulative remittances during the four-month period to $5.5 billion.

The BSP said the 2.6-percent growth registered in the first four months of 2009 was supported by higher remittances from both sea-based and land-based workers of 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. 

“Steady remittance flows – averaging $1.4 billion in 2008 and in January-April 2009 – continued to be driven mainly by sustained demand by host countries for Filipino skills and competence,” said BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr.

Tetangco cited a report from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) that said demand for Filipino workers abroad remained broadly strong.

As of May this year, Tetangco said a total of 758,412 active job orders have been reported, of which 37 percent have been processed while 63 percent are still to be filled up. The bulk of the job orders was in the production, services, and professional skill categories.

Tetangco said the government expected the demand for Filipino workers abroad to be sustained by employment opportunities gained from hiring agreements forged between the Philippines and host countries.

Thus far, the Arroyo administration’s aggressive labor export campaign has led to a number of such agreements with countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Australia, among others.

The Philippines has also resumed exporting workers to Japan under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) with an initial deployment of 273 health workers.

Remittances are generally expected to decline by at least four percent this year but the BSP has consistently countered market expectations and said its zero-growth remittance projection for 2009 was now considered conservative. –Des Ferriols, Philippine Star