OFWs investable assets have remained untapped

CEBU, Philippines — If the Philippines were to tap OFWs’ investable and savings money, it could bring in three times more than the P30 billion remittance size a year.

What the overseas filipino workers (OFWs) are sending to the Philippines now are just what economists consider as “guilt money”, said the country’s top property analyst and consultant David Leechiu.

The “guilt money”, the money that Filipinos abroad is sending to their family back home, is just a small portion of what these OFWs are earning, which means that the at least P30 billion remittance money going into the country’s economy annually, can be more than tripled if “these people put their savings in the form of investments,” like buying properties or start a business.

“The savings and investable funds of OFWs have not been tapped yet,” stressing that imagine if the Philippines will be able to attract more investments from Filipinos working abroad.

Leechiu explained that what makes the Philippines a promising economy, despite natural and man-made crises, including instability in political stature, is the sustained contribution of the OFWs, which is also considered as the country’s “low laying fruit”.

Even with the challenge of the threatening virus, which is affecting some sectors like tourism and retail, Leechiu said the Philippine economy is too stable, with a lot of opportunities waiting to be tapped, like the OFWs investable wealth.

As of November 2019, remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) personal remittances rose by only two percent to $2.64 billion in November last year from $2.59 billion in the same period in 2018.