Dollar remittances expected to increase
By Michelle V. RemoMetrobank expects remittances from overseas-based Filipinos to grow by at least 6 percent this year and sustain robust household consumption in the country.
Metrobank expects remittances from overseas-based Filipinos to grow by at least 6 percent this year and sustain robust household consumption in the country.
The government is beefing up efforts to reintegrate returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through programs encouraging them to start businesses, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said.
The cash transfer company i-Remit Inc. has expanded its local remittance business by signing a partnership with pawnshop operator Eight Under Par Inc., more commonly known as Palawan Pawnshop.
From overseas Filipino workers to entrepreneurs. Many OFWs have started to believe there are better opportunities beyond overseas work as more than 3,700 returning OFWs, including those who were repatriated from troubled countries, have ventured into business in 2012, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.
Remittances reached a record high in October as global demand for Filipino workers remained strong despite the lingering crisis in the United States and Europe.
The peso inched up slightly on Tuesday as the Christmas season prompted overseas-based Filipinos to send more money to their families and as investors kept a positive outlook on the Philippine economy.
External factors, such as inflows from overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector, were the reasons for the 7.1 percent economic growth of the country but the gains are unsustainable in the long term, a militant leftist group warned Thursday.
The World Bank has projected that remittances to the Philippines in 2012 will hit $24 billion, making the country the world’s third-largest recipient of money sent by migrants.
Remittances rose further in September, hitting a new monthly high of $1.8 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has blacklisted at least 20 freight forwarders and other firms behind undelivered balikbayan boxes and mail fraud schemes that victimize mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
British banking giant HSBC sees resilient overseas remittances giving the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas leeway to keep its benchmark interest rate, the overnight borrowing rate, at a record low of 3.75 percent.
Cash remittances from overseas-based Filipinos sent through banks reached $1.8 billion in August, increasing at a 10-month high of 7.6 percent from $1.67 billion in the same month last year.
