For many Filipinos, 2023 is a new year faced with the same economic challenges from 2022. Continuous inflation has unfortunately made many Filipinos familiar with food and job insecurity issues by now.
While the record-high peso to US dollar exchange rate has benefitted remittance flows from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), the increase has been offset by the rising cost of living for recipient families in the Philippines.
From January to September 2022, 760,000 OFWs were deployed, marking a 40 percent jump from 2021. The increased demand, along with recent deals with destination countries like Singapore and the United Kingdom aimed at improving OFWs’ working conditions, is expected to boost remittances to the Philippines by 4 percent for 2023.
However, the global economy remains volatile. This makes it the perfect time to create and maintain better money habits for a better financial future in 2023.
“The financial landscape has been anything but stable over the last few years. Filipinos, especially OFW families, should ideally still exercise ‘cautious optimism’ when planning their finances for the coming year,” said Earl Melivo, WorldRemit Interim APAC Managing Director.
WorldRemit is a global payments company and disrupted an industry previously dominated by offline legacy players by taking international money transfers online.
WorldRemit currently sends from 50 to 130 countries, operate in more than 5,000 money transfer corridors worldwide and employ around 1,200 people globally.
On the sending side WorldRemit is 100 percent digital,increasing convenience and enhancing security. For those receiving money, the company offers a wide range of options including bank deposit, cash collection, mobile airtime top-up and mobile money.
For OFWs, there is the added challenge of helping their families maximize remittances back home while also budgeting for themselves abroad. Most times, the feasible way through is for workers to make the most of their hard-earned income as they work towards better opportunities.
There are many programs that look out for the welfare of migrant workers and their families. In the Philippines, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is an attached arm of the Department of Migrant Workers which provides comprehensive benefits for its active members and their beneficiaries. These include medical insurance, livelihood assistance, and scholarships for dependents.
