| DATE: 2007-11-05 | PRINT | BOOKMARK
MANILA - Money sent home to the Philippines by millions of Filipinos working abroad, already 10 percent of GDP, is expected to almost double to 21.4 billion dollars a year by 2010, officials forecast.
Alex Aguilar spokesman for the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said 2006 cash transfers rose to a record 12.8 billion dollars, as the government forecast an annual increase of about 10 percent.
However, officials say this figure could go much higher and Aguilar expects the rate of overseas remittances to increase by 15 to 20 percent annually to about 21.4 billion dollars by 2010 from 10.7 billion dollars in 2005.
He said the composition of workers leaving for overseas is shifting to professionals and other skilled higher-paid sectors, compared to maids and construction workers who dominated workers abroad 20 or 30 years ago.
Worker deployment actually dropped by 3.7 percent in the eight months to August, but the tilt to highly skilled workers allowed remittances to rise 15.3 percent to 9.3 billion dollars, he told reporters Sunday.
\"Those who are saying the Philippines should stop relying on remittances are being ridiculous. The growth of remittances is definitely sustainable over the next several years,\" he added. - AFP
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