PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER - July 16, 2008

OFW remittances surged 15.6% in May

Foreign exchange remitted by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through banks reached $1.4 billion in May, up 15.6 percent from a year earlier, bringing the January-May total to $6.8 billion, up 14.7 percent, the central bank reported Tuesday.

OFWs deployed in the period from January to May totaled 533,945, up 40 percent from 382,777 recorded in the same period last year, said the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Around eight million Filipinos, or one-tenth of the population, work overseas, mostly as nurses and caregivers, domestic helpers, ship crew members, entertainers and engineers.

The bulk of the remittances originated from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.

In a statement, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the establishment of more remittance centers by Philippine banks was expected to further facilitate the inflow of rising remittances.

The central bank expects total remittances coursed through banks this year would reach about $15.7 billion, up 9.0 percent from 2007.

Remittances in 2007 sustained domestic consumption, which was the country's biggest growth driver during the year. Consumption accounts for about 70.0 percent of the gross domestic product.

Tetangco said OFW remittances were expected to remain robust in the months ahead. He noted reports of expansion of oil-production capacity in the Middle East, which he said the expansion could result in increased demand for Filipino workers.

The remittances have helped to ease the drop of the peso this year while export earnings have slackened and imports have risen.

Exports grew only 3.1 percent in the January-May period, compared with the government's full-year target of 6.0 percent, because of weakening global demand for electronics, the Philippines' major export product. Imports rose 17.7 percent in the period from January to April, compared with the government's full-year projection of 10.0 percent.