WB: PH ban on OFW deployment to Kuwait to have ‘muted’ effect on remittances

(File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The government’s ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait will unlikely dent the robust remittance flows to the Philippines, the World Bank said.

In its April 2018 Migration and Development Brief, the Washington-based multilateral lender noted that the Philippines was the third biggest recipient of remittances last year, reaching $33 billion.

Only India, with $69 million, and China ($64 billion) exceeded the Philippines’ remittance inflows in 2017.

The 5.3-percent growth in remittances last year was faster than the 4.5 percent in 2016.

For the World Bank, “the impact on remittance inflows of a recent ban on deploying Filipino workers to Kuwait is likely to be muted, given the country’s relatively small exposure to the Gulf Cooperation Council country.”

To recall, the Philippine government in February issued a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait upon the instruction of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III had signed an administrative order on the total deployment ban to implement the President’s directive amid investigations on seven Filipino household workers killed in Kuwait.

Among those seven cases was the case of Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found inside the freezer of her employers.

In 2017, the Philippines was the ninth largest origin of international migrants, with six million, based on World Bank estimates. /jpv

RELATED STORY

Total deployment ban to Kuwait ‘still holds’ – Palace exec