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Filipino overseas workers remit less cash in January

Xinhua, March 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Cash remittances sent home by Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) hit a six-year low in January, causing concern that one of the pillars of the Philippine economy may be adversely affected.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas(BSP), the Philippine central bank, released a report on Monday indicating that remittances rose by just 0.5 percent to a total of 1.814 billion U.S. dollars, down from December's 6.3 percent.

January's remittances were the lowest since February last year, and the growth was the slowest since January 2009.

"Hopefully, it's a blip, but if it becomes a trend, it becomes a concern," said the Bank of the Philippine Islands lead economist Emilio Neri Jr..

Eight to ten million OFWs work in the Middle East, almost exclusively in countries that rely heavily on oil revenues.

Most cash remittances in January originated from the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, China's Hong Kong and Singapore, according to the BSP. Endi