Earnings – Overseas

World Bank worried about US slowdown   Remittance flows to developing countries, including the Philippines, were expected to fall sharply this year because of the impact of the US economic and construction sector slowdown, a new World Bank report said.

FILIPINOS working abroad sent more money home in May as more of them found jobs as nurses, sailors and housekeepers.

Remittances from overseas Filipinos reached a record high in May, fed by the need of families or beneficiaries of migrant workers to pay for school expenses.

Updated estimates released at July 13-14 International Diaspora and Development Conference WASHINGTON, July 13 – Remittance flows to developing countries are expected to be $304 billion in 2009, down from an estimated $328 billion in 2008, said the World Bank today, releasing a new migration and remittances brief to coincide with an International Diaspora and…

Change is too slow coming for the nation’s one million home care aides. In 2007, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a 1975 federal labor regulation that defines home care aides as “companions.” That definition exempts home care employers — often for-profit agencies — from having to pay the federal minimum wage or time and a…

FILIPINOS working abroad remitted an average of P83,000 to their families in the Philippines over a six-month period from April to September 2008, up by 10.7 percent from a year ago, according to the National Statistics Office.

THE National Statistics Office (NSO) said laborers or unskilled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were the biggest source of cash remittances, belying claims by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that highly-skilled Filipino workers were responsible for the bulk of money sent home.

MANILA, Philippines – Domestic helpers and other lowly paid overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are actually sending home more remittances than the highly paid ones.

MANILA, Philippines – Remittances from the US declined by 10 percent in the first four months of this year and if this continues for the rest of the year, total remittances could post the first decline since the country started sending workers abroad.

MANILA, Philippines—Contrary to popular belief, low- and semi-skilled overseas Filipino workers are the top source of dollar remittances of the country, according to an analysis of remittance data made by the Institute for Migration and Development Issues.

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.

MANILA, Philippines—The threat of job cuts abroad has prompted families of overseas Filipino workers to invest more than they used to, according to a survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

About P80 billion worth of funds lay idle in the banks in the first quarter of 2009, as news of global economic recession forced families of migrant Filipino workers to save their money instead of spend them, resulting in a dismal 0.4-percent growth in gross domestic product during the period.

RP sailors on foreign ships to hit .5M in 5 years MANILA, Philippines—Remittances from Filipino sailors increased by 5.52 percent (or $41.851 million) to $800.535 million in the first quarter versus $758.684 million in the same period in 2008, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines—Even as they are miles away from home, Filipinos in Italy still retain many traditions, including financial traditions. An ongoing research by the International Organization for Migration shows that some of them invest in the so-called “paluwagan.”

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said its zero-growth remittance projection for 2009 is now considered conservative, with inflows growing by 2.7 percent in the first quarter of the year.

FILIPINO workers sent home a record $1.5 billion in March, up 3.1 percent from a year ago, as demand for overseas labor remained steady despite the global economic crisis, the central bank said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hit a record-high of $1.5 billion in March, bringing the first quarter total to $4.057 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it is likely for remittances to actually grow in the second half of this year, with the anticipated increase in labor deployment to the Middle East.

MANILA–Remittances from Filipinos working and living overseas, a key pillar of the Philippine economy, are unlikely to decline this year, central bank deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said on Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund sees remittances from Filipinos working abroad falling 7.5 percent amid a contracting global economy.

MANILA, Philippines – After stalling in January, inflows of remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) went up by 4.9 percent to $1.3 billion in February, bringing the two-month total to $2.6 billion, or 2.5 percent higher than a year ago level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

Remittances from migrant Filipino workers grew 4.9 percent in February to $1.32 billion year-on-year, as job layoffs slowed down and deployment increased, the Bangko Sentral said yesterday.

Remittances from overseas Filipinos, both from migrants and workers, improved in February, marking a recovery from the virtually flat growth in January, the central bank reported Wednesday.

GIVEN the severity of the global economic downturn, remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may fall by 10 percent to 20 percent this year even if many of them are in recession-proof sectors and in countries that are unlikely to plunge into recession, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The $16.43 billion that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent home last year placed the country in the fourth spot in the world’s top recipients of remittances, the World Bank said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) warned yesterday of deeper economic difficulty as a growing number of Filipino workers are getting laid off from their jobs abroad.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects an increase in remittances sent through formal channels to boost the country’s gross international reserves (GIR).

World Bank said remittances by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are likely to post a modest drop this year because of job lay offs, as it cited a larger basis for the projected remittances that included non-cash flows.

In a bid to downplay the wave of job losses due to the global economic crisis, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque yesterday said both the global deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their dollar remittances to the country’s economy have continued to increase despite the global financial crisis.