OFW remittances up 7% in May, fastest since Jan.

Remittances by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) grew 6.9 percent in May, its fastest monthly increase since January amid political tensions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the disaster in Japan, and the decision of Saudi Arabia to stop hiring domestic helpers from the Philippines. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a statement the money transfers last May reached $1.688 billion or $110 million more than the $1.578 billion in the same month last year. "For the month of May alone, remittances rose by 6.9 percent to reach $1.7 billion, the second highest level since December 2010 when a record-high level was realized," he stressed. Last January remittances grew 7.6 percent year-on-year, while total money transfers last December reached a record $1.694 billion. In the first five months of 2011, Tetangco said remittances climbed 6.2 percent to $7.898 billion from $7.438 billion a year earlier. "The steady inflow of cash transfers from overseas Filipinos was due to increased remittances from both sea-based and land-based workers, which rose by 21.4 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively," Tetangco added. Major sources of remittances The major sources of remittances from January to May were the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Italy, and Germany, the BSP chief said. Remittances grew by 8.2 percent to a record $18.76 billion last year from $17.35 billion in 2009 as overseas demand for skilled Filipino workers continued to grow and remittance centers abroad continued to expand, giving OFWs more options when sending money to the Philippines. Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) data showed that Filipino workers continued to be deployed abroad, offsetting the jobs affected by the social unrest in the MENA region and the disaster in Japan. The number of Filipino workers deployed overseas rose by 3.4 percent to 1.47 million last year from 1.42 million in 2009, according to POEA data. Job orders approved by the Philippines government in the first half of 2011 totaled 330,498, of which 33.3 percent or 110,018 were already processed. — VS, GMA News