Q1 OFW remittances total $4B – BSP

Money sent home by Filipinos abroad amounted to $4.339 billion in the first quarter, up by 7 percent from a year earlier, as demand for skilled and professional Filipino workers continued to rise. Total remittances in March alone amounted to $1.55 billion, or 5.6 percent more than the $1.427 billion recorded in March 2009, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Monday, noting the situation in global employment opportunities has improved in recent months. The amount of money sent home by Filipinos abroad in March was the second highest monthly remittance level after the $1.567 billion posted in December. BSP Gov. Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said remittances by overseas Filipinos coursed through banks were $282 million higher than the $4.057 billion registered in the first three months of 2009. "The steady remittance flows - averaging about $1.4 billion in 2009 and in the first quarter of 2010 - continued to be propelled mainly by sustained strong demand for Filipino skills and expertise as well as the expanded access to enhanced banking services by overseas Filipinos and their beneficiaries," Tetangco said. From January to March, the amount of money sent home by sea-based workers grew by 11 percent and land-based workers by 6 percent, the central bank said. About 81 percent of the remittances reported by local banks came from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "Prospects for global deployment of overseas Filipino workers remain positive, especially as employment opportunities are expected to rise along with clearer signs of global economic recovery," the BSP chief said. Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed the job orders approved for the first three months of the year totaled 155,334, with 29.2 percent or 45,393 jobs in the service, professional, technical, and production sectors as well as related jobs processed for Saudi Arabia, UAE, Taiwan, Qatar, Kuwait, and Hong Kong. The competition among banks and non-bank money transfer firms helped sustain the flow of remittances to the Philippines, the BSP said. The banks and the money transfer companies continue to expand the scope of market coverage To capture a larger share of the global market, the central bank added. The number of established tie-ups, remittance centers, correspondent banks, branches or representative offices abroad of commercial banks grew to 4,483 as of March, from 4,192 at the end of 2009, according to central bank data. Many Filipinos abroad have been encouraged to use formal channels in sending money back home, because of the innovations and operations upgrades introduced by banks and money transfer firms, Tetangco said. The BSP has raised its forecast on the amount of money Filipinos abroad would be sending home to relatives in the country to 8 percent from 6 percent, based on the noticeable increase in demand for Filipino works by foreign employers. Last year, remittances went up by 5.4 percent to a record $17.348 billion from $16.426 billion in 2008 exceeding the revised 4 percent growth forecast by the central bank with the steady rise in the number of engineers, medical practitioners, and teachers going abroad. In a study entitled "Philippines: Vigilant on inflation but still concerned about sustainability of global recovery," Barclays Capital said overseas Filipino workers would grow by 10 percent. —VS, GMANews.TV