OFW remittances up 6% in Jan-Nov ’12

MANILA, Philippines - Money sent home by Filipinos living and working overseas hit $19.416 billion in the first 11 months of 2012, up six percent from a year ago level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

The latest growth figure was higher than the central bank’s forecast of a five percent expansion.

For November alone, cash remittances amounted to $1.918 billion, the second highest for the year after October’s $1.928 billion.

Personal remittances such as hand-carried money transfers also grew 7.6 percent to $2.131 billion in November. So far, these transfers have grown by a faster 6.1 percent to $21.592 billion during the 11-month period.

“Remittances continued to draw strength from increasing demand for skilled and professional Filipinos abroad along with innovations in remittance services offered by banks and financial institutions,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a statement.

A total of 329,947 job orders were processed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration last year, official data showed. Most workers were deployed in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

“The government’s continued efforts to ensure that workers are adequately trained and properly certified are expected to sustain the deployment of skilled workers to various country destinations and consequently boost remittances,” Tetangco explained.

The bulk of cash remittances came from the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Japan, UAE and Singapore. These countries account for 78 percent of total remittances during the 11-month period.

Cash transfers from land-based workers expanded by 4.2 percent, while those from seafarers grew by a faster 12.5 percent, data showed. Actual amounts were not provided.

Remittances form part of the country’s balance of payments (BOP), which Tetangco said reached $8.9 billion in surplus last year. A surplus indicates the country has enough resources to meet trade obligations and pay external debts.

“A steady stream of overseas remittances and robust receipts from BPO (business process outsourcing) and other service exports continue to contribute to the country’s resilient external payments position,” Tetangco said.