Remittance industry stakeholders said remittances by Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Philippines is likely to continue its upward trend.
In interviews with The Filipino Times, they noting at least two contributing factors: one, the Filipino community is the only ethnic group that continues to grow by the day with the arrivals of new ones looking for jobs; and, two, the “ber” months, which translates to increased money-sending activities.
“Continuous ang deployment from the Philippines of OFWs and we also have those arriving on visit visas,” said Edwin Punzalan, Assistant Vice President of BDO Remittance and marketing officer of Emirate NBD’s Direct Remit Philippines.
He added: “Kaya sa tingin ko lalaki pa ‘yan (remittances).” Punzalan noted that unlike other expatriate communities, Filipinos “religiously” and “regularly” send money home no matter what.
“Medyo resilient ang manpower. Nagpapadala kahit maliit and sweldo,” he said.
For his part, Cherian Joseph, head of Products, Partnerships and Channels at Sharaf Exchange, described the Filipino community’s remittance tendencies as “phenomenal” owing to their close-knot family relationships.”
“The contribution of the Filipino Community to UAE has always been phenomenal. Specifically, the large remittance volumes we see from Filipinos demonstrate both their importance to the remittance industry as well as their close- knit family relationships that urges them make such remittances,” he said.
He added: “The season of celebration across the world and for Filipinos particularly sets in from mid of October until yearend. Their money transfers increase during this period. In this context it is ideal for service providers to OFWs such as remittance houses, to design consistent benefit programs that furthers such values.”
He said Sharaf Exchange “has been silently holding close our Filipino patrons by surrounding them with multiple avenues of value through Usrati, the unmatched loyalty program.”
Central Bank
The Central Bank of the UAE has revealed that Filipinos have ranked 3rd in the top remitters from the UAE to their respective countries comprising 7.2% of the Dh80.96 billion remitted for the first six months of the year 2019.
This translates to roughly Dh5.8 billion or an estimate of Php82.6 billion* from OFW’s hard-earned money here in the UAE that they have sent towards their families back home in the Philippines.
India ranked top with 37.2% of remittances, followed by Pakistan with 10.5%.
Here’s the complete list of the top 10 countries:
India: 37.2%
Pakistan: 10.5%
Philippines 7.2%
Egypt: 6.3%
UK: 3.8%
Bangladesh: 3.7%
USA: 3.3%
Jordan: 2.6%
Switzerland: 2.2%
China: 1.5%
A total of Dh33.046 billion thereof was transferred through money exchange companies and the rest from the banks operating in the country.
