OFWs remit more money for the start of the school year

Money sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) had seen a marked increase since June in anticipation of the official re-opening of classes in schools today,

The spike in remittances from abroad was revealed by Earl Melivo, interim Asia-Pacific regional director of global payments company, WorldRemit.

The surge began in June and peaked the past weeks and this was most likely related to scheduled expenses on tuition and other school-related fees and supplies.

Based on WorldRemit’s monitoring, Philippine inbound remittance value amount has so far seen a surge of almost 30 percent from the month of June to July.

“For us, let’s say month on month, not counting this month of August which is not yet finished, but from June to July, probably an uplift of more than 10 percent at the very least. That’s high for a month on month,” Melivo said

Based on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas figures on remittance from May to June, he noted around a 20-percent rise or from 14 billion pesos to 17 billion pesos.

“I would say, that is roughly the same movement that we have. For Philippines overall, it’s upwards of almost 30 percent growth for World Remit (in inbound remittance value increase),” Melivo said.

He also pointed out an increase in remittances could be attributed to the escalating prices of school supplies.

“In our assessment, tuition fees have not risen really. The main reason why our customers are sending more is because of school supplies. The higher the need of the recipients, essentially, the higher the amounts that are being sent.”

WorldRemit observed the global inflation impact on the prices of school supplies as they have presence in 150 countries worldwide, Melivo said adding in the Philippines, it assessed a 40-percent hike in the cost of school supplies.