Remittances reached record $10.7b in ’05 — BSP

Manila Standard Today
Feb 16, 2006

Remittances reached record $10.7b in ’05 — BSP

By Eileen A. Mencias

Remittances sent by Filipinos working abroad totaled $10.7 billion last year, up 25 percent from $8.55 billion in 2004, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported yesterday.

Remittances in December alone rose 10.7 percent to $962 million from $869 million reported a year ago.

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

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

Remittances coursed through formal channels this year are expected to reach $11.7 billion.

BSP Deputy Gov. Armando Suratos attributed the increase in remittances to the higher number of Filipinos working abroad.

Citing data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the BSP said the number of Filipinos who found jobs overseas grew 5.2 percent last year to 981,677.

Filipinos employed in land-based jobs abroad totaled 733,970 last year, 4.2 percent more than a year ago, while those in sea-based jobs hit 247,707, up 8.2 percent.

The BSP said continued demand for Filipino labor and missions of government and the private sector to promote Filipino workers and efforts to identify employment opportunities contributed to higher remittances.

Programs such as predeparture training and computer literacy training also helped improve the demand for Filipino labor.

The BSP said more highly skilled Filipinos were leaving the country to get jobs as engineers, teachers, nurses and medical workers.

Citibank officials said Filipinos in the US are among the higher-paid minority groups, with a per capital income of $70,000 to $80,000, about double the average per capital income there. Some 85 percent of the Filipinos in the US send money back home at an average transaction of $600.

Citibank earlier said it hoped to get more business from Filipino migrant workers in the US with a flat rate $8 charge for remittance service.

The remittance business is a major money maker for banks. Even state-run banks Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) are improving their remittance service to get a bigger share of the market.

DBP plans to put up remittance centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Milan and the US’ West Coast. LBP, on the other hand, has centers in the US and plans to set up in Europe, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Taiwan.