Remittance growth picks up to USD 1.6-B in February

MANILA, Philippines – Thanks to the continued demand for Filipino workers abroad, growth in remittances slightly picked up in February from the previous month.

In a statement released Monday, April 16, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that Filipinos based overseas sent home $1.6 billion in February, up 5.8% from $1.5 billion in the same month last year.

The increase was slightly higher than the 5.4% growth in remittances recorded last January.

“The continued inflow of OF (overseas Filipino) remittances is supported by the sustained demand for Filipino manpower in various foreign labor markets,” said BSP Governor Amando Tetangco.

Remittances remain to be a major driver of the Philippine economy, accounting for 9% of gross domestic product in 2011.

Tetangco said remittances will continue to grow this year, although at a slower pace, on the back of more employment prospects for Filipinos outside the Philippines.

Citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the BSP said job orders for professional and technical, service and production Filipino workers rose 24.6% to 200,010 in the first quarter of 2012 from the comparable period last year.

The jobs are mainly intended for employment in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, Qatar, Taiwan and Kuwait. The first four were among the top sources of remittances in February, along with US, Canada, Japan, UK, Italy and Germany.

Aside from more jobs, the BSP said the growing network of money transfer providers will help boost remittance inflow in the country.

The Philippine government expects remittance to grow 5% this year, slower than the 7.2% growth to a record $20.12 billion in 2011. – Rappler.com