OFW remittances up 8% in Jan

MANILA, Philippines- Money sent home by Filipinos living and working abroad rose by 8.4 percent to $1.855 billion in January from $1.7 billion a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

The central bank has a five-percent growth projection for cash remittances this year. Remittances hit $20.117 billion last year, up 7.2 percent.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., in a statement, attributed the increased to “steady demand” for overseas Filipino workers as well as the expansion of remittance centers abroad.

“The introduction of new financial products and services has also contributed considerably in addressing the remittance needs of overseas Filipinos and their beneficiaries,” he added.

Broken down, land-based workers sent more money back home than seafarers, data showed. Land-based workers sent a total of $1.3 billion, while sea-based workers contributed $412 million.

Remittances came mainly from the US, which accounted for 39 percent of total inflows, central bank figures showed.

It was followed by Canada (11 percent), Saudi Arabia (7.6 percent), the United Kingdom (5.3 percent), the United Arab Emirates (4.7 percent), Singapore (3.9 percent) and Japan (3.8 percent).

There are indications remittances growth could persist throughout the year, Tetangco said, citing hiring data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

According to POEA, a total of 1.8 million overseas workers were deployed last year, an increase of 6.7 percent from 1.687 million a year ago. About 80 percent of those deployed are now land-based employees.

In addition, around two million workers are awaiting deployment, up 12.6 percent, while job orders processed for the first two months reached 29,533. Most jobs were related to service, production, professional and technical sectors.

Remittances continue to support the country’s balance of payments (BOP), which gauges our capacity to meet external trade obligations and foreign debts. As of January, BOP recorded a surplus of $2.043 billion.