AIPAN, CNMI (Saipan Tribune, June 13) – The weakening of the U.S. dollar versus the Philippine peso and the decline in the number of garment workers in the Mariana Islands are combining to depress the total amount of remittances that alien workers are sending to their home countries.
[PIR editor’s note: According to files at the CNMI Department of Commerce web site, between 1999 and 2002, there were about 13,000 work permits issued yearly to Filipino workers on Saipan. Documented remittances for the island between 1999 and 2003 averaged US$80 million a year.]
For overseas Filipinos, including thousands in the Commonwealth, a stronger peso is not good news. The exchange rate currently places the dollar at 46 pesos-a steep drop from some two years ago when it was trading at 55 pesos. This has forced some to increase their remittances to maintain the previous amounts they've been giving their families. [Read more]
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