Remittances help foil Asia crisis repeat - World Bank

ISAGANI DE LA PAZ

05/10/2007 | 01:27 PM

Across the East Asia region sweeps the wind of prosperity and cash remittances as well as knowledge capital by migrant workers has helped economies become more robust a decade after a devastating crisis.

Aside from the Philippines, the World Bank (WB) cited remittances from workers overseas also helped other countries like Vietnam and Mongolia to beef up cash reserves. Hence, remittances could soften and may even foil a repeat of the 1997 Asian crisis -if ever there would be one in the near future.

"A decade after the financial crisis that devastated East Asia in 1997-1998, the region is far wealthier, has fewer poor people and a larger global role than ever before. Led by continued strong growth in China, Emerging East Asia now has an aggregate output of over US$5 trillion, double the dollar value just before the crisis," said the WB report titled "Ten Years after the Crisis". [Read more]