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.
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
listening to the problems of an OFW in Kuwait
during his trip last March.
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.