OFWs Post Record-High Remittances

Remittances by the millions of Filipinos working overseas in 2005 jumped 25 percent to a record $10.7 billion, Bangko Sentral said yesterday.

Remittances in the month of December alone rose 10.7 percent from a year earlier to $962 million, the central bank said in a statement.

"The sustained rise in the level of remittances for 2005 was largely due to the increase in the number of Filipinos working abroad," it said, adding the deployment of more highly-skilled workers earning more also contributed.

The bulk of remittances come from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

Central Bank governor Amando Tetangco earlier said he expects remittances this year to hit $13.5 billion. In 2004, remittances rose 11.8 percent to $8.5 billion.

The lure of higher-paying jobs overseas has seen about eight million Filipinos go abroad with nearly a million finding work overseas every year.

The money sent home by these workers plays a crucial part in propping up the country's cash-starved economy and the rise in remittances in recent months has helped push the Philippine peso to three-year highs this week.

AFP