OFWs’ dollar remittances jumped by 30% in May
By Doris Dumlao
Inquirer
Last updated 04:45am (Mla time) 07/15/2006
Published on page A1 of the July 15, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
DOLLARS sent home by overseas Filipino workers surged by 30 percent to $1.14 billion in May, its highest monthly growth level since June last year, in time for the payment of the tuition of their dependents, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported yesterday.
This brought total remittances in the first five months of the year to $4.9 billion, up by 14.8 percent from a year earlier. The government expects the full-year remittance total to be at least 10 percent above the record of $10.7 billion in 2005.
Accent to financial services
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said continued demand for Filipino workers as well as more efficient banking services helped boost the remittance figures.
“It is expected that with the recent linkup of the three major automated teller machine (ATM) networks, beneficiaries of overseas workers will have increased access to financial services provided by commercial banks, encouraging utilization of formal channels for remittance transfers,” Tetangco said.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that the total number of deployed workers rose by 12.5 percent in May.
For the first five months, sea-based workers deployed abroad increased by 15.1 percent to 115,557 versus a year ago even as land-based workers declined by 3.6 percent to 350,705 during the same period.
The OFWs likewise wired in more money in May to take advantage of the foreign exchange rate.
Bulk from US
After peaking at 50.88:$1 in March, the peso depreciated past the 53 barrier in May, thus allowing OFW beneficiaries to get more pesos for their dollars.
The bulk of the OFW remittances came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, Tetangco noted.
The Philippines is now the world’s third biggest recipient of migrant remittances next to India and Mexico.
To handle the growing cash transfers from Filipinos abroad, Philippine banks continue to strengthen their capacity.
For instance, RCBC TeleMoney, the remittance arm of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., yesterday entered into a strategic partnership with US-based Travelex Money Transfer (TMT).
Professionals
Through the tie-up with TMT and its local representative Asian FX Money Exchange, OFW beneficiaries can receive their TMT remittances at any of the 178 business centers of RCBC, said Cynthia Santos, RCBC senior vice president and TeleMoney Group head.
Bankers said the strong remittance flows were also due to the fact that a big portion of Filipinos leaving for abroad consisted of highly paid professionals such as doctors, nurses and information technology experts.
The Department of Labor and Employment yesterday said the deployment of OFWs rose by 1.69 percent in the first semester to 564,920 compared to 555,533 in the same period last year. With a report from Jerome Aning