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The $16.43 billion that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent home last year placed the country in the fourth spot in the world's top recipients of remittances, the World Bank said.

The top three are India ($45 billion), China ($34 billion), and Mexico ($26 billion).

Landing in fifth place is Poland with $11 billion, followed by Nigeria ($10 billion), Egypt ($9.5 billion), Romania ($9 billion), Bangladesh ($9 million), and Pakistan ($7 billion).

Even with a projected drop of 5 to 8 percent for developing countries this year, the World Bank said remittances will remain resilient as well-established migrant workers are unlikely to leave their host countries even with the ongoing crisis.

Instead of going home, these workers are more likely to reduce the amount of money they send, the World Bank said.

The World Bank is expecting remittances to developing countries to fall to $290 billion this year from last year's high of $305 billion as the global economic crisis continues to take its toll on employment, particularly in host countries such as the United States.

In the Philippines, the multilateral lender is expecting a 4-percent drop in remittances for 2009. This will have a huge impact on the country as many families are highly dependent on remittance inflows.

Analysts watch the pace of Philippines' remittance growth as indicator of consumer spending, the fate of the peso, and other hints of upcoming economic data.


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