Manila: The government is studying the possible impact of the dollar-peso exchange rate on the remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Tuesday amid the conflict involving the United States (US) and Israel with Iran. 'The other area that we look into are what will be the effect on the remittances because this is something that will affect the families of those that are remitting funds from our workers in this part of the world,' Marcos said in a press conference at Malaca±an Palace in Manila.
According to Philippines News Agency, Marcos admitted it is 'very hard to make an estimate' on the possible effects of the escalating tensions in the Middle East on OFW remittances. He said around 80 to 85 percent of overseas Filipinos come from Gulf nations. 'Karamihan ng remittances natin ay talaga diyan galing. Iyan ang pinakamalaking working group natin na hindi nila kasama ang pamilya nila kung hindi nagre-remit ng pera dito sa Pilipinas (Most of our remittances really come from there. That is our largest group of workers who are without their families and are remitting money to the Philippine)' he added.
Marcos vowed to assess the potential impact of exchange rate on the money sent home by Filipinos abroad. 'The other statistic which will have an effect on remittances is going to be the exchange rate between the dollar and the peso. So, we will just have to watch that very, very closely to see what the effects are,' he said.
Marcos said the government has also conducted sensitivity analysis on possible impacts, including the effect per USD1 increase per barrel in oil prices. 'That's why tawag kong mixed bag. Halo-halo talaga. May aakyat, may bababa. Kasi kung umakyat ang peso, lumalaki ang remittance. Pero kung bababa naman, ang actual na dolyar na pinapadala dito, eh di bababa (that's why I call it a mixed bag. It's really varied -some will go up, some will go down. If the peso strengthens, the remittance value increases. But if it weakens, the actual dollar amount being sent here could decline),' he said.
'So, we don't know where that balance is going to end as of now. So, we are watching it very closely.'
In 2025, OFW remittances reached a record USD39.62 billion, marking a 3.3 percent increase from the previous year. The largest source of the remittances was the US, accounting for 39.7 percent of the total, followed by Singapore (7.3 percent) and Saudi Arabia (6.6 percent).
