BSP data show remittance shift from US$ to AEM currencies

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data on overseas Filipinos’ remittances from 2003 to 2010 show that there is a continuing shift away from the US dollar to Asian, European and Middle East (AEM) currencies. The shift started in 2009 when earnings from AEM countries, amounting to $7.8 billion, overtook the total of inflow from the US by about $483 million. The gap then widened to about $648 million last year. BSP officials said overseas Filipino workers are being deployed to various countries because of the greater number of vacancies available there for skilled workers. Political unrest failed to stop Filipinos from going to places others flee from. The BSP said, “Remittances of overseas Filipinos based in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Libya collectively amounted to $40.1 million, 4.5 percent higher than the level reached during the same period a year ago." The BSP also credited the banks and remittance agents for setting-up more ways for Filipinos to send their earnings through formal channels. “Commercial banks' established tie-ups, remittance centers, correspondent banks and branches/representative offices abroad reached 4,575 as of end-March 2011 compared to 3,962 at the end of the first quarter of 2010," the BSP said. — Earl Rosero/VS, GMA News