OFW remittances soar over $17B as of Nov.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent home over $17 billion as of November, surpassing the 8-percent remittance growth target for the whole of 2010, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said Monday. Central bank data showed that the money sent home by Filipinos abroad totaled $17.069 billion in January-November last year, up 8.2 percent from $15.78 billion in same 2009 period. Remittances grew 10 percent to $1.613 billion in November alone last year from $1.459 billion in November 2009, BSP records showed. "This was the second highest double-digit monthly increment recorded during the year," Tetangco said. Given the steady levels of remittances last November, "the projected full year [2010] remittance level will likely be achieved," he said. The central bank was expecting remittances to grow at least 8 percent last year, with more than eight million OFW’s sending money to their relatives in the Philippines. Money transfers from overseas Filipinos to their beneficiaries have been sustained at more than $1.5 billion monthly over the 11-month period, Tetangco said. Remittances grew by 5.6 percent to $17.348 billion in 2009 from $16.426 billion 2008, government records showed. The central bank attributed this growth to the sustained demand for skilled Filipino workers overseas, particularly engineers, medical practitioners, and teachers. Continued flow of remittance Tetangco said the robust demand for Filipino manpower in various global destinations — US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Italy, Germany, and Norway — was behind the continued flow of remittances. He said the flow of OFW money was backed by the implementation of Philippine hiring agreements with Canada, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. The Philippines is also taking advantage of the recruitment plans of Guam, Malta, and Qatar, he added. Philippine Overseas Employment Administration data showed that approved job orders totaled 624,045 in January-December 2010. The agency reported that land-based workers waiting for deployment rose 16.6 percent to 423,271 last year from 362,878 in 2009. Tetangco said there are continuing efforts to improve the coverage of global remittance networks so that more OFWs are enabled to send remittances. "[There are] more innovative financial services offered in the market," the central bank chief said. "Bank and non-bank money transfer channels have expanded their markets worldwide by establishing more tie-ups with remittance offices, partners, and agents across the globe where a large number of overseas Filipinos are concentrated," he added. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV