More OFWs expected to come home, work here

More overseas Filipino workers (OFWS) are expected to decide to come home for good and find their economic opportunities  right in their home country, according to a recently-released report by the DBS Group, a Singapore-based financial service provider.

On the one hand, economic and business prospects are perceived by OFWS to improve in the Philippines, with sound macro-fundamentals in place, further fiscal reforms anticipated, and a new status as a net creditor nation.  On the other hand, the economic climate in Europe and the Middle East is seen to slump and their job markets contract.

These are twin events seen to conspire to make migrant workers homeward bound.

‘Working domestically may become more attractive to locals as employment opportunities grow, said the DBS.  “We suspect that remittances will slowly diminish in importance in the coming years.”

The group predicts that OFW remittances will rise to only 4.2 per cent in the next few years.

“This also implies that full-year remittance growth will be around 5 per cent to 6 per cent this year, a continued deceleration from 7.2 per cent and 8.2 per cent in 2011 and 2010, respectively.”

“In the short term, there are considerable headwinds to remittance growth amid a lackluster global economy,” it added.

The strengthening of the Philippine peso also serves to  dilute the effectiveness of each dollar coming into the country, resulting in less support for the domestic economy.

The group said that the rise of remittances to the Philippines was unlikely to return to the double-digit rates seen from 2002 to 2008 when growth was strong in the developed economies including the United States and Europe.

These two major markets accounted for a combined 58 percent of total remittances in 2011.

“The heavy debt load in the two regions implies that economic growth will be constrained over the medium term,” DBS said.

“Asia remains a bright spot, but the region only accounts for 12.8 percent of (global) total remittance and is unlikely to negate the remittance slowdown in the developed economies,” it added.

 Photo: “International Migrants Day- Flash Mob