Refer to: Ms. Dale Zapata 83321148

VP NOLI URGES BANKS TO FURTHER LOWER REMITTANCE CHARGES FOR OFWS

08 May 2006

VICE President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro yesterday urged commercial banks to further lower charges for remittances made by Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and to assure the availability of more bank centers to meet the growing remittance requirements.

Lower charges would optimize OFWs’ remitting capacity and discourage them from using informal channels like the black market, De Castro, also the palace adviser for OFWs, said.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, charges for remittances from the US to the country is approximately at 2.9 percent, while those from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are 2.75 and 2.18 percent respectively. Remittances from Italy are charged at a high rate of up to 4.14%.

In the US for example, our OFWs would have to pay for charges amounting to P600, more or less, for every $400 remittance transaction. However, the black market is offering a much lower rate and many of our OFWs are tempted to use this channel to the detriment of our economy,” he said.

Vice President and Palace Adviser for OFWs Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro has urged banks to further lower remittance charges for OFWs and to establish more remittances centers abroad. Seen above is De Castro discussing various problems and concerns with some members of the Filipino community in Kuwait during his trip last March.

At the same time, the Vice President underscored the problem faced by OFWs regarding the scarcity of bank outlets. He said a wider international banking network should be established that could cater to OFW communities in different countries.

“Our OFWs would have to travel to another town just to process and send their remittances. Our banks must address this situation in order to help our OFWs save on time and money in looking for a bank to make their remittance,” De Castro pointed out.

De Castro said his proposal aims to benefit both the OFWs and the country because with lower rates, more money would be in the hands of recipient families while tax-paying banks would enjoy more patronage from Pinoy workers abroad.

The Vice President said banks could help improve the flow of remittances to the country by offering better rate charges that would encourage OFWs to send more to their families.

He lauded the OFWs for its valuable contribution to the country’s economic growth last year when remittances grew by 25 percent, totaling to $10.8 billion.