Remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are projected to increase by 3.3 percent this year, according to the chief economist of banking giant Maybank.
Suhaimi Ilias, Chief Economist at Maybank, said the OFW remittances will bounce back as the global economy recovers from the economic drought brought by COVID-19 pandemic.
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He said the increase in remittances is mainly due to OFWs in oil-producing countries in the Middle East.
According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) remittances during the first two months of 2021 grew by 1.6 percent.
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Data from the BSP revealed that personal remittances — in cash or in kind by OFWs, and other household-to-household transfers between overseas Filipinos and their families in the Philippines pushed the remittances in January and February this year to $6.65 billion. The said figure is higher than $5.57 billion in the same period last year.
A slight increase was also observed from remittances coming from Singapore, US and Malaysia. Remittances from the said countries raised by 1.5 percent to $5.08 billion from $5 billion. (RA)
