PHILIPPINES: Dollar's Fall Rocks Far-Flung Families

MABINI, the Philippines—The world's currencies are gyrating, but the strains are being felt beyond financial capitals and corporate boardrooms. Millions of families in developing countries rely on relatives sending dollars, euros and other weakened currencies from abroad to prop up spending at home.

Lorena Baquillos's husband, Jimmy, is one of nearly 10 million Filipinos working around the world. She's managed to open a small grocery here on the money Jimmy sends home as a merchant seaman, but his dollar-based pay is translating into fewer pesos at home than it did a few years ago. Read more

PHILIPPINES: Remittances from Libya, Yemen, Bahrain 1.3% of total, says central bank

Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers in strife-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa is only 1.3 percent to the total remittances last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday.

"The potential disruption [of money transfers] is something we can tolerate," BSP Assistant Gov. Cyd Tuano-Amador told reporters. But this disruption could eventually matter if the violence continues in strife-torn Libya, Yemen, and Bahrain, she added.

Remittances grew 8.2 percent to a record $18.76 billion last year, from $17.35 billion in 2009, as 
demand for skilled Filipino workers remains strong, the central bank reported on Feb. 15.


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PHILIPPINES: Harvard prof: PH emigration to slowdown in 30-40 years

Harvard professor Dr. Jeffrey Williamson talked to Business Nightly on Wednesday to talk about 

emigration trends.

He said that every emigrant-sending country has gone through the following stages: rising, leveling, then descending. "I don't expect Philippines to be any different," he said during the interview.

Key driving forces for the eventual easing off include demography and improving job choices at home.

He explained that as young adults emigrate, the number of young adults at home as a share of  the population will be less. "The exit rate will tend to ease off," he said. Read more.

PHILIPPINES: Philippine Peso Gains on Speculation Drop Overdone; Bonds Fall

The Philippine peso rose for the first time in three days as some investors took advantage of declines triggered by unrest in the Middle East to buy the currency. Government bonds fell.

The peso has retreated 0.5 percent since Feb. 18 following a 1.1 percent weekly advance that marked it’s best performance in five months. Today’s rebound was modest because of concern instability in countries including Libya, Egypt and Bahrain will drive up the cost of crude oil imported by the Philippines and curb remittances from Filipinos living in the region, according to Marcelo Ayes, a Manila-based senior vice president at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

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PAKISTAN: Remittances and hope

A pioneering new study commissioned by the Pakistan government and carried out by the International Organization of Migration, finds that remittances from overseas can quite dramatically change the quality of life for households that receive them, allowing families to pull children out of labour, purchase land or agricultural implements, pay for marriages or put them in savings. The small-scale study looks at 500 households in nine high-migration districts of the country and in Azad Kashmir. Its findings show the average total remittances received per household from the time the migrants went abroad were Rs 1.05 million.  Read more

West Asia crisis may slow remittances in near term

Region accounts for 48 per cent of the total inflows into India.

Remittances to India, especially from the West Asian countries, may decelerate in the near-term as the region continues to witness political turmoil following mass uprising against the governments in Tunisia and Egypt.

The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, which capsized the local government a few weeks back, saw popular uprising against unemployment and corruption.

This was followed by riots in Egypt, which, according to the United Nations, have left as many as 300 people dead. Protests were also witnessed in Jordan and Yemen. Read more

Remittances from Kenyans in Diaspora rise

Remittances from Kenyans abroad increased minimally last year to stand at Sh51.3 billion, the Central Bank of Kenya has said.

In a year that saw further recovery of the global economy, remittances increased by five per cent from Sh45.6 billion recorded in 2009.

The increase was an indication that leading economies in North America and Europe that account for most of the remittances are back on a strong footing after the global economic crisis, considering that in 2008, money sent back home stood at Sh45.8 billion. Read more

SOMALIA: Dahabshiil Provides Vital Remittances, Says BBC

LONDON, PRNewswire/ -- By handling remittances from the international Somali diaspora, Dahabshiil provides a vital source of income for African communities and in doing so, has become Africa's largest money transfer company, according to a recent article by the BBC.

In the interview by Zeinab Badawi of the BBC, Dahabshiil's CEO, Abdirashid Duale, speaks about his company's operations in Somaliland and of the difficulties in doing business abroad that arise from the unofficial status of the region, once British-controlled, in North West Somalia.
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Hawala operators expect windfall

DOHA: People running unofficial remittance channels (hawala) between Qatar and Egypt literally anticipate a ‘windfall’ if the demonstrations continue in Egypt as that would aggravate inflation and further weaken the local currency.

The operators ‘hope’ that with rising inflation back home, Egyptian expatriates here would be compelled to remit more funds to their families to help them keep pace with galloping prices.

And since banks and exchange houses remain closed in Egypt, they expect the expatriates here would be forced to use the black market for remittances.

The Qatari Riyal-Egyptian Pound rate, though remained unchanged in the unofficial remittance market here yesterday at 1.9 pounds per riyal—Wednesday’s rate—operators expect a ‘brisk’ business from today. The official riyal-pound rate has also jumped to 1.7 pounds to a riyal, although official remittances continue to be inactive.

Meanwhile, dollars are selling like hot cake in Cairo as foreigners desperate to leave trouble-torn Egypt are willing to cough up any sums in the local currency to grab the greenback. Read more

GUATEMALA: Guatemalan remittances rose 15.1% in January 2011

Guatemala City. Revenues through remittances increased by 15.1 percent in January 2011 compared to the same month in 2010. The Bank of Guatemala revealed yesterday that January 2011 showed revenues of $ 283.3 million. Although this amount is higher than January 2010, when revenues where at U.S. $ 246.1 million, it has not yet reached the levels of 2009, revenues of US $ 290.2 million, or U.S. $ 314.6 million of January 2008. Read more

LATIN AMERICA: New program helps harness the development potential of remittances sent to Latin America.

new program helps harness the development potential of remittances sent to Latin America.

BY MIMI WHITEFIELD

MWHITEFIELD@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Billions of dollars in remittances flow to the families of U.S. workers in Latin America annually and pay for everything from putting food on the table to buying cement blocks to build homes.

But under a new program launched by the U.S. government, the Inter-American Development Bank and banks in Central America, some of that money will be used to spur development in the region.

Consider: In 2009, $50 billion in remittances were sent from the United States to Latin America and the Caribbean. That's five times the amount of development assistance pledged to the region.

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ZIMBABWE: Diaspora remittances up

HARARE - Remittances from Zimbabweans living abroad have increased 32.9 per cent in 2010 to about US$263.3 million, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has said.

Figures released by the central bank showed that remittances had increased significantly from the US$198.2 million recorded in 2009.

“The growth rates primarily reflected the market’s confidence in the formal channel of remitting free funds,” the central bank said in a recent economic update. “In the outlook, the sector is poised to grow in 2011 due to the broadening of the Bureau De Change operating framework.”

Millions of Zimbabweans now live in neighbouring Botswana and South Africa while others have settled in Europe and the United States. Most left the country over the last decade to escape a biting economic crisis characterised by world record inflation and high unemployment. The vast majority send money back home to support their families. 


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MEXICO: MoneyGram and Visa Extend Remittance Service to World’s Largest Remittances Corridor

MoneyGram International (NYSE:MGI), a leading money transfer services company, and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) announced today the launch of MoneyGram’s first cash-to-Visa account program for remittances from the United States to Mexico.

The program, which is built off of the success of MoneyGram’s cash-to-Visa service in Guatemala, allows consumers to visit any of the 35,000 MoneyGram locations in the U.S. to quickly and reliably send funds directly to eligible Visa accounts in Mexico. Recipients in Mexico receive the funds directly to their Visa credit, debit, or prepaid accounts, giving them convenient access to their funds through Visa’s global network of millions of merchant acceptance locations and ATMs.

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PAKISTAN: IOM Launches Study on Impact of Remittances on Pakistan's Development

Pakistan - IOM today launched a study investigating the impact of remittance flows from Pakistani migrant workers in Saudi Arabia on their families back home.

The study, commissioned at the request of the government, was funded by IOM's 1035 Facility for member states and targets an area that suffers from a dearth of empirical data.

"The research will help key stakeholders in the government to draft new legislation enhancing the development impact of these remittances on local, regional and national levels in Pakistan. It may also help to improve remittance services for Pakistani workers in Saudi Arabia," says IOM Regional Representative for West and Central Asia Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa. Read more

PHILIPPINES: Landbank makes Japan remittances easier

A news service being offered by the LandBank of the Philippines has made it easier for Overseas Filipinos (OFs) and their families to send and receive money in the country.

This, after Landbank inked an agreement with the Japan Post Bank (JPB) at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo recently.

Under the agreement signed by Landbank and JPB executives, remittance of Japan-based overseas Filipinos as well as other fund transfer to other local banks sent through JPB will be distributed by Landbank. Read morehttp://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=14366

VIETNAM: More cash pours in from overseas Vietnamese

HCM CITY — The World Bank predicts inward remittances will increase by more than 6 per cent this year, based on the amount of last year.

Inward remittances to Viet Nam increased strongly in the last decade, from only US$1.2 billion in 1999 to $7.2 billion in 2008.

Last year was the first time in which remittances surpassed $8 billion, a rise of 25.6 per cent over 2009.

The recovery of the world economy as well as better economic growth have opened more business opportunities, with more and more overseas Vietnamese transferring money to invest here.

With a more liberalised remittance policy, including allowing the sending and receiving of US dollars, commercial banks as Sacombank and Vietcombank have taken many measures to attract foreign currencies. Read more

After a slump in 2009, migrant financial remittances back to Africa were again on the rise in 2010. Experts expect a further growth in funds sent to Africa in 2011 and 2012.

According to a recent World Bank study, the slump in remittances to Africa in 2009 was recovered last year. By the end of 2010, Bank estimates show, Africans abroad will have sent back a total of US$ 21.5 billion, posting a 4.4 percent rise, after a decline of 3.7 percent the year before. Read more

TAJIKISTAN: Remittances on the rise in Tajikistan

Tuesday, February 01, 2011 - Foreign workers’ remittances sent home to Tajikistan climbed by more than one-quarter to reach $2.1 billion in 2010, according to figures released by the head of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT).

Total remittances from January to November 2010 were up 27 percent over the same period in 2009, but remained below pre-global crisis levels, said central bank chief Sharif Rahimzoda.

“Compared to 2009 remittances to Tajik banks considerably increased last year, but they are still far from the record figures of 2008, when $2.6 billion were remitted to banks in Tajikistan,” the AsiaPlus news agency cited the NBT head as telling a press conference in the capital Dushanbe.

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Egypt bank closures cut off vital Gulf remittances

DUBAI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The closure of Egyptian banks has prevented Gulf-based Egyptians, who make up the bulk of the population living abroad, from sending vital remittances back to the North African country, exchange operators said on Tuesday.

Egypt, racked by political unrest as demonstrators bid to end President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, is heavily reliant on funds from its citizens abroad.

The World Bank estimates about $7.6 billion was remitted to Egypt in 2010. 

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MEXICO: Remittances to Mexico up marginally in 2010

Mexico received a total of $21.27 billion in remittances in 2010, which signifies a small increase of 0.12 percent over the year before, the country's central bank said Tuesday.

"This indicates that remittances barely managed to halt the decline that occurred in 2009 and their recovery has been slow. Remittances depend chiefly on employment in the United States, where the outlook continues to be complicated," a report by the Mexican bank Ixe said.

Remittances constitute the second largest source of foreign currency for Mexico after oil sales.

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