Skip to main content

OFW remittances drop to 9-month low in June


Published Aug 15, 2019 5:52:02 PM

(FILE PHOTO)

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 15) — Filipinos working abroad sent home less cash in June, mainly due to fewer remittances from those in the Middle East.
Personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFW) totaled $2.55 billion for the month, down 2.7 percent from the $2.62 billion which they sent to their families back home in June 2018. This is also the lowest monthly remittance tallied since September last year, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Remittances pertain to money sent by OFWs to their families back home, and are often used to support basic needs and some luxury expenses.
The central bank said the decline came as OFWs based in Saudi Arabia and Qatar wired home less cash via banks. Cash remittances coursed through banks saw a 5.4 percent drop among land-based workers. The decline was partly offset by a 6.3 percent climb by those working at sea.
This was also the first time since August 2018 when remittances fell year-on-year.
Remittances totaled $16.25 billion in the first six months. This is 2.9 percent higher than the $15.79 billion recorded during the same period last year. The BSP projects a 3 percent climb in remittances this 2019.
The United States remained the biggest source of remittances from January-June, accounting for more than a third of the sum. Other big sources were Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, the central bank said.
Other big sources were Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, and Qatar.
Filipinos with longer work contracts sent home $12.4 billion as of June, against the $3.5 billion remitted by those with labor arrangements valid for less than a year.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more