OFWs remit more to make up for peso rise, analysts say

Remittances of overseas Filipinos have been strong in recent months partly because the expatriates are compensating for the erosion of their dollars’ worth in terms of pesos, an investment report said Friday. “In periods of peso appreciation, OFWs typically send more dollars to the Philippines in order to maintain the spending capacity of their families," First Metro Investment Corporation (FMIC) and University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) said in their The Market Call Friday. FMIC and UA&P observed that “the exchange rate re¬turned to its appreciation streak. By the end of July, the peso appreciated further and brought the July average to P42.81/$ from P43.91/$ in June. This trend has continued until August as the peso-dollar exchange rate registered at an average of P42.42/$ as of August 26." For remittances from July to December, FMIC and UA&P said it will maintain its 7 percent growth forecast for the second half of 2011. “For the coming months, we still believe that the peso will remain volatile due to external factors but should move around the P42.50 - 44.00/$ range for Q3 2011 as investors may delay return to emerging markets," FMIC and UA&P also said in their report. — ELR, GMA News