IBON: Strong peso costs OFWs P700 per $100 remitted

The strengthening peso continues to bear down on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), costing them some P700 for every $100 they remit to their families back home.

Militant think tank IBON Foundation said that from January to December 2007, the exchange rate of the peso to the dollar has strengthened by almost 15 percent.

"This means that over the period, the family of an OFW who remitted $100 in January was able to exchange it for P4,891. By December this had fallen to P4,174 or a decline of P717," it said.

Such a reduction is especially painful given the increasing prices of basic goods and services in the country, the group said.

IBON noted that from January to November 2007 the cost of an 11-kg liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder increased by P76.94 to almost P600.

Manila Water also recently implemented a rate hike that will cost consumers who consume 30 cubic meters per month an additional P60 on their bills.

“Overseas workers were forced to tighten their belts and remit more of their income to make up for the lost value," said IBON research head Sonny Africa.

Africa noted monthly remittances grew 26% from P1.1 billion in January to P1.4 billion in October.

"The strengthening peso and its effect on OFWs’ incomes reveal the folly of the government’s labor export policy and its continuing reliance on migrant workers’ remittances," he said. - GMANews.TV

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