Bank economists expect an increase of 9.7% in the remittances sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the Philippines following the resume of deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait.
Experts from HSBC Global Research that the increase in remittances could be expected for the month of May, reported Business World.
“Remittances growth has been robust across regions with the exception of the Middle East, where remittances have declined on a yearly basis since the beginning of the year due partly to restrictions on Overseas Filipino Workers’ deployment to Kuwait at the start of the year,” HSBC said in a report.
“We expect this to recover toward the end of the year now that the ban has been lifted,” HSBC added.
After President Rodrigo Duterte instructed OFWs in different Middle Eastern countries to return home after alleged cases of abuse, which was immediately followed by the imposition of deployment ban to Kuwait, remittances from Middle Eastern countries dropped by 10.5% over the past few months.
Specifically, OFW remittances from Kuwait dropped by 8.9% compared to the same period last year.
