Overseas Filipino remittances reach $5.1 billion in Q1 — Bangko Sentral

Bank remittances by overseas Filipinos totaled $5.1 billion in the first quarter of the year, up 5.6 percent year-on-year and in line with sustained demand for  skilled Filipino workers abroad, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported Wednesday. “Remittances from both sea-based [$1.2 billion] and land-based workers [$3.9 billion] expanded by 6.1 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively,” Bangko Sentral noted. “The steady increase in personal remittances during the quarter was driven by robust remittance flows from both land-based OF workers with work contracts of one year or more, as well as sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts,” the central bank added. The money transfers largely originated from the United States which accounted for 42.6 percent of total cash remittances; Canada, 8.2 percent; Saudi Arabia, 7.9 percent; the United Kingdom, 5.7 percent; the United Arab Emirates, 4.5 percent; Singapore, 4.2 percent, and Japan, 3.7 percent. In March alone, remittances amounted to $1.749 billion, up 3 percent from $1.698 billion a year earlier. “Latest reports from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration indicated that approved job orders totaled 292,483 in January to April 2013, of which about 27 percent consisted of processed job orders mainly for services, production, and professional, technical and related workers,” Bangko Sentral said. The job orders processed were largely for the manpower needs of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Hong Kong and Kuwait, the central bank said. “Continued efforts by the government to promote the welfare of OFWs are expected to boost remittances further,” according to Bangko Sentral. The Department of Labor and employment earlier said the POEA and the German Federal Employment Agency on March 18 signed a bilateral agreement on the placement of Filipino healthcare professionals in Germany. The deal entails working conditions for Filipino healthcare professionals on a par with those of comparable German professionals. Bangko Sentral said personal remittances grew 3.7 percent to $1.932 billion in March from $1.864 billion year-on-year, bringing the total personal remittances in the first three months to $5.649 billion from $5.318 billion. The expanding operations of remittance service providers across the globe would allow a wider  capture of remittances through formal channels, the central bank noted. As of end-March 2013, there were 4,750 channels of remittances abroad from 4,732 a year earlier. — VS, GMA News