RP overseas workers remittances up 28%

RP overseas workers remittances up 28%

MANILA: Overseas Filipino workers sent home some US$7 billion
to the Philippines in the first eight months of the year, a 28
percent rise over the same period last year, the central bank
said on Friday.

Remittances in August alone grew more than 28 percent to $954
million, it said in a statement.

"Given the more than 20 percent year-on-year expansion that
has prevailed since February, remittances are expected to remain
strong going into the (Christmas) holiday season," the bank
remarked.

Economic planners have previously forecast remittances would
reach about $10 billion this year.

The central bank said the "vigorous marketing campaign" of
commercial banks to encourage more Filipinos to send their money
back home through official banking channels accounted for the
increase, along with the growing number of Filipinos who are
going abroad to work.

Almost eight million Filipinos, out of a population of 84
million, have left the country to seek work abroad, attracted by
salaries that far outstrip what they could earn at home.

Their remittances are the Philippines' largest source of
foreign exchange, propping up the country even during times of
financial crisis. -- AFP