OFW inflows hit new monthly high in Oct

MANILA, Philippines - The country in October received a record monthly high of $1.777-billion remittances from Filipinos abroad, but the growth rate was slower than in previous months as global economies weakened.

The October figure was up 6.2 percent from the remittance level in the same month last year. The remittance growth, however, slowed from 8.4 percent in September and as much as 11 percent in August.

Remittances for the first 10 months of 2011 reached $16.5 billion, up seven percent year on year.

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that remittances continued to be supported by the demand for Filipino workers overseas despite challenges posed by the global slowdown.

The BSP noted that inflows in October, the highest monthly level ever recorded, “could be due to higher cash transfers by overseas Filipinos to their beneficiaries who were affected by typhoons Quiel and Pedring that occurred in the latter part of September.”

“Despite the challenges posed by global economic and financial headwinds, the continued strong demand for Filipino workers abroad, particularly skilled manpower, provided support to the stream of remittance flows over the over 10-month period,” Tetangco said.

Statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed that the number of approved job orders rose 11.6 percent to 645,775 during the 10-month period from 578,535 in the same period last year. The processed job orders consisted of job openings for production, service, as well as professional, technical and related workers for Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Taiwan, Kuwait and Hong Kong.

The BSP governor also cited the growing number of alternative remittance services offered by banks and financial institutions also encouraged oversead Filipinos and their beneficiaries to use the formal channels for their fund transfers.

“Meanwhile, the continued expansion in the number of banks, other financial institutions and telecommunication companies that offer a wide range of money transfer services and financial products has also encouraged higher remittances from overseas Filipinos,” Tetangco said.

Major sources of remittances in January to October were the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Italy and Germany, and Norway.

The central bank expects remittances to grow seven percent this year despite the slowing US economy and the debt problems in Europe. Next year, remittance growth is seen at five percent.

In 2010, remittances reached a record $18.76 billion, up 8.2 percent from 2009.

Remittances account for about 10 percent of the Philippine economy. The economy is projected to grow between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent this year, down from a previous government estimate of five percent to six percent.