Remittances from overseas Filipinos continued to slow down with year-on-year growth of just 2.2 percent in April, down from 3.1 percent in March and 4.9 percent in February, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The research group Ibon Foundation says this paints a gloomy picture of the economy and foretells depressed consumption as well as further deterioration in the welfare of millions of remittance-dependent households in the country. “The depressed consumption and economic growth is not just because migrant workers and their families are saving but also because remittances are dropping to begin with,” Ibon said in a statement. Data released by the BSP showed that the largest decline was in remittances from the United States, which shrank 9.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year. The $1.68 billion in remittances from the US in the January-March 2009 was $168.3 million less than the $1.84 billion remitted in January-March 2008. In 2008, Filipinos in the US accounted for 48 percent of remittances to the Philippines . Remittances from Saudi Arabia , Canada , Singapore and Australia were still growing but at slower rates compared to previous years, according to the BSP. Only five countries – Japan, Germany, Norway, Greece and Malaysia – recorded faster growth rates in remittances in the first quarter. These, however, barely compensated for the falling remittances in the other countries, and growth in overall remittances slowed to just 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from 13.2 percent growth in the same period last year and 24 percent in 2007. Also shrinking were remittances from the United Kingdom (13.8 percent fall), Italy (23.2 percent), United Arab Emirates (6.5 percent), Hong Kong (15.9 percent), Taiwan (37.5 percent), Bahrain (11.2 percent), Kuwait (58.6 percent), Qatar (4.9 percent), South Korea (22.8 percent) and Spain (1.6 percent). The 11 countries in total remitted $335.3 million less in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year. The shrinking or slowing remittances across so many countries underscores the global nature of the financial turmoil and how overseas Filipinos are not immune or “recession-proof,” Ibon said. As it is, remittances by Filipinos from 67 countries have shrunk with those from dozens other countries. Businessmen watch the pace of remittance growth for their companies and investment strategies. So far, local companies that benefit from remittance-led consumption have disclosed lower or flat sales on the stock market. Property companies, for example, have been experiencing slower sales in residential houses, which, in the past, have been one of the preferred investment outlets of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Mobile phone companies have seen declines in the text messages sent by their subscribers while malls have experienced lower revenues from movies and other recreational activities since the start of the year. Ibon said the government can no longer depend solely on money sent home by OFWs to sustain the declining economy. The group urged the government to reverse its policies on economic liberalization, which it said further weakened the capacity of the economy to withstand the impact of the global crisis. “These are all indications that the country's cheap labor export policy may be reaching its limits in the face of global migration trends in the last years and the global turmoil since last year,” Ibon said.
