Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, concurrent Presidential Adviser on OFWs Concerns, in a recent letter to President Benigno S. Aquino III, has recommended the creation of a bank especially for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
The Vice President said in his letter that having such a specialty bank "will provide an alternative yet viable economic financial and remittance institution for our kababayans (compatriots) at the local and international levels."
Binay said OFWs themselves have long clamored for the creation of an OFW Bank, as they claimed having been “victims of exorbitant remittance rates charged by financial intermediaries and money brokers.â€
"The (hoped-for) bank will provide fair competition towards the reduction/lowering of remittance/transaction costs and provide a productive outlet for our overseas Filipinos' savings as bank investors and shareholders," he added.
In Binay’s concept, the OFW Bank would be “initially funded and underwritten by government financial institutions,†and later “sold to and controlled by OFW investors and stockholders.â€
According to the records of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), OFW remittances from January to October this year grew to US$ 15.5 billion a year-on-year growth of 7.9 percent.
A major bulk of remittances came from the United States of America, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Italy, Germany and Norway. - pna
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