RemittancesGateway.org

Philippine Remittances Increase, Supporting Economy

Monday, 17 May 2010 08:26

Remittances sent home by Philippine citizens abroad climbed as more people found work as sailors, nurses and engineers overseas, supporting economic growth.

Money sent back to the Philippines increased 5.6 percent from a year earlier to $1.55 billion in March, the central bank said in a statement in Manila today. The funds rose 7.1 percent in February.

Remittances, which amount to more than a 10th of the Philippines’ $167 billion economy, helped the country avoid a recession last year by sustaining domestic demand for Jollibee Foods Corp. chicken meals and Ayala Land Inc. homes. Senator Benigno Aquino, leading in vote tallies for last week’s presidential election, has said he wants to create jobs locally.

“No one can exaggerate the importance of remittances for the Philippines,” Eduardo Banaag, vice president at First Metro Investment Corp., an asset management company in Manila, said before the report. “It cuts across the different sectors in the economy as these are incomes spent and used for bank deposits, electricity, and buying properties.”

Philippine economic officials forecast growth will accelerate to a range of 3.8 percent to 4.7 percent in 2011 from as little as 2.6 percent this year. The government will report first-quarter economic growth data on May 27.