Despite claims made by the government's economic managers regarding a surge in remittances, an independent research group on Wednesday claimed that remittances were in fact on the decline. According to Ibon Foundation, remittances by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are slowing despite rising deployments, implying a decrease in the average earnings of OFWs and reduced incomes for remittance-dependent households. Data from the Philippine central bank show that the year-on-year growth of remittances dropped from 4.9 percent in February and 3.1 percent in March to just 2.2 percent in April. But the government reported that deployment of OFWs continues to rise while displaced workers are able to find alternate work abroad. Thus, the depressed consumption and economic growth that the country is experiencing is not just because migrant workers and their families are saving but also because remittances are slowing to begin with, Ibon said. The deepening global crisis has already caused overseas remittances to fall in the first four months of 2009 in 10 of the 20 countries accounting for 96 percent of overseas remittances to the Philippines. Meanwhile, remittance growth in another four countries is already slowing and could soon turn negative, with only slight growth in the remaining six countries, Ibon said. “Unless these trends are reversed, they indicate further depressed consumption and growth in the economy as well as deteriorating welfare for millions of remittance-dependent households around the country,” it said. The largest fall was in remittances from the US which shrank 10.4 percent in the January-April 2009 compared to the same period last year. The $2.29 billion in remittances from the US in the first four months of 2009 was $266.4 million less than the $2.55 billion remitted in the same period in 2008. Remittances recorded as coming from the US accounted for 48 percent of total flows to the country in 2008. Also shrinking were remittances from the United Kingdom (9.4 percent fall), Italy (24.5 percent), United Arab Emirates (1.9 percent), Hong Kong (22.4 percent), Taiwan (32.5 percent), Bahrain (10.4 percent), Kuwait (52.7 percent), South Korea (12.6 percent) and Spain (10.1 percent). These 10 countries in total remitted $458.6 million less in the first four months of 2009 compared to the equivalent period last year.
