OFW remittances up 7.1% in July
According to the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis, Inc. latest NewsBriefs, remittances from Overseas Filipinos rise by 7.1 percent in July 2014. Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) continue to be in the uptrend, amounting to $2.3 billion in July 2014, 7.1 percent higher from a year earlier. The rise has been attributed to the steady global demand for skilled Filipino workers.
From January to July this year, personal remittances stacked up to $15 billion, 6.4 percent more than in the same period in 2013. Cash remittances are also up by 6 percent, reaching $2.1 billion for the month of July. Cumulatively, from January to July 2014, cash remittances totaled $13.5 billion, 5.8 percent higher compared to the same period in 2013.
Remittance flows from both land-based and sea-based workers, either with long-term or short-term contracts, have increased in the first seven months of 2014. The United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, Canada, and Hong Kong continue to be the top sources of cash remittances.
Moreover, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration report that job orders from January to July 2014 already hit 540,037. The job orders ranged from services, production, technical, and professional work.
Furthermore per same published report, the Bureau of Treasury reports that the government’s debt servicing has dropped 25.64 percent in July 2014, amounting to only P50.43 billion. A year earlier, debt payments totaled P67.82 billion. Broken down, both principal and interest payments have declined. The government has set aside P819.19 billion this year for debt servicing.
Likewise, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has ended July 2014 with a net loss of P3.17 billion, as revenues dropped by 30 percent and expenses fell 27 percent. Also, BSP’s Diwa Guinigundo urged for the immediate amendment of the central bank’s charter. The amendment aims to allow the BSP to hold its own debt securities, put up reserves against foreign exchange fluctuations, and increase its capitalization from P50 billion to P200 billion.
Also according to IDEA, despite the later onset of typhoon Yolanda, the BSP announced that bank deposits in Eastern Visayas grew by 20.4 percent to about P58.78 billion in 2013. Operating banks in Region 8 also proliferated from 150 in 2012 to 161 in 2013. Furthermore, bank accounts increased from 673,685 in 2012 to 691,426 in 2013.
Lastly, a couple weeks ago, tropical storm Mario wreaked havoc across Metro Manila with its heavy continuous rains forcing public and private operations to halt as several cities, along with major pathways and roads were deeply flooded. Some parts of Luzon also experienced power outages, while the NAIA had to cancel nearly 80 domestic and international flights due to the storm according to the researchers of IDEA.
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