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Central bank cuts OFW remittance growth target |
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(05 February 2004, Thursday - Philippine Daily Inquirer)
THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has scaled down its growth target for this year's inflow of dollar remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to three percent from five percent, saying the original target may not be achievable. |
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"I think our remittances hit about 7.6 billion last year, which was within the six-percent growth target," BSP Deputy Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said. "But this year, we are reviewing the numbers and for the meantime, we are looking at a three-percent growth on account of reduced deployment of workers."
Based on last year's estimated remittance, a five-percent growth this year would bring the total OFW income remittance to eight billion dollars and a three-percent growth would put the total at about 7.8 billion dollars. In 2002, income remittances from OFWs reached 7.2 billion dollars. "We are just being conservative," Tetangco said. "We will review the numbers on a quarterly basis to see if the eight-billion-dollar mark can still be hit." He noted that while deployment of OFWS had been slowing down since last year, particularly for land-based jobs, the workers were being hired for higher-paying jobs. Deployment of seamen continues to go up, he said. Foreign exchange inflows from overseas workers account for nearly 85 percent of the country's gross earnings. They also bolster the country's dollar supply. A shortage of dollars in the spot market for dollars is considered a factor in the fall of the peso since January. The January-March quarter is a lean period for OFW income remittances, coming after a heavy inflow during the Christmas season. Commercial banks report about 85 percent of total OFW income remittances while foreign exchange firms report 10 percent of the total. The data on the remaining five percent come from offshore banking units. The BSP estimates that more than five billion dollars in OFW income remittances passing through informal channels, such as couriers and money-changers, is not being booked by the government. The BSP is counting on higher OFW remittances this year to offset a slowdown in foreign direct investments. BSP Governor Rafael Buenaventura pointed out that the slowdown in the deployment of land-based workers affected mostly low-income workers, including domestic helpers, while the number of caregivers, engineers and performing artists going overseas continued to increase. home | latest news |
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