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Overseas remittances show marked increase

Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) totalled $8.24 billion (Dh30.27 billion) during the first six months of 2008, and total remittances are projected to touch $18 billion by the end of 2008, a local paper reported

  • By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
  • Published: 23:21 August 18, 2008
  • Gulf News

Manila: Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) totalled $8.24 billion (Dh30.27 billion) during the first six months of 2008, and total remittances are projected to touch $18 billion by the end of 2008, a local paper reported.

The figure reflects a 17.2 per cent increase in remittances for the same period in 2007, the Central Bank of the Philippines told the Inquirer.

In June, remittances touched $1.5 billion, the highest recorded monthly figures since 1989, when the central bank started monitoring inflows from expatriates.

OFWs deployed in the Middle East accounted for a big share of the remittances.

The country's main sources of remittances are 8 to 9 million OFWs who comprise nearly 10 per cent of the population.

"Our workers are still in demand and we are sending people who are better skilled and higher paid than before," said Central Bank Governor Amando M. Tetangco.

Remittances from OFWs have been boosting foreign exchange reserves despite a perennial trade deficit, outflow of portfolio investments and dismal foreign investments. The United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom account for a big chunk of the expatriate population.

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