OFW remittances still up – BSP

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the closure of remittance firms abroad has not affected the inflow of remittances from overseas Filipinos workers.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said cash remittances from Filipinos working and living abroad have increased as projected amid the tight implementation of anti-money laundering laws in countries that have large population of overseas Filipinos.

“So far our remittance has grown by more than five percent. It is still as projected,” Tetangco said.

Cash remittances grew 5.8 percent to $2.09 billion in May from $1.985 billion in the same month last year amid the sustained demand for skilled Filipino manpower overseas.

This brought to $9.9 billion the amount of cash sent home by overseas Filipinos from January to May this year, 5.4 percent higher versus the $9.39 billion remitted in the same period last year.

Major sources of cash remittances were the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, UK, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and Canada.

Tetangco explained regulatory authorities have imposed fines on foreign banks found violating anti-money laundering laws.

“Many have been fined and some just decided to just to close that business line. They are leaving the remittance business,” Tetangco said.

The Association of Bank Remittance Officers Inc. (Abroi) and the Association of Private Remittance Services Companies Inc. (Appraise) – two of the country’s biggest remittance organizations – have banded together to jointly ask the BSP as well as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to formally appeal to these developed countries which have shut down their respective remittance business.

Both groups are alarmed over the move by developed countries including the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to shut down remittance firms due to suspicions these are being used to funnel funds to terrorists.

Listed remittance firm I-Remit said Appraise is appealing to authorities to initiate government-to-government discussions.

“We’re hoping for government-to-government discussions on how to help make remittance flow easier with the situation,” I-Remit chairman and CEO Bansan Choa said earlier.

I-Remit said the slowdown is a sign Filipinos abroad are now remitting in lesser amounts and less frequently.

This may be attributed to the move by big foreign banks in some countries to close the accounts of both bank-owned and independent money transfer companies, effectively denying them access to banking services and the use of international fund transfer facilities.