For many Filipinos, 2023 is a new year with the same economic challenges as 2022. Unfortunately, persistent inflation has made many Filipinos now familiar with food and job insecurity.
While the record high peso-dollar exchange rate favored remittance flows from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the increase was offset by higher living costs for receiving Filipino families.
Still, experts hope that recent developments will benefit OFWs and remittances. Labor shortages around the world are causing host countries to reopen their borders and expressing a greater need for migrant workers, especially in the healthcare and entertainment industries. From January 2022 to September 2022, 760,000 OFWs are deployed, a 40% increase over 2021.Increased demand, and recent deals with destination countries such as Singapore and the UK aimed at improving working conditions for OFWs, are Remittances to Philippines expected to increase 4% growth by 2023.
However, the global economy remains volatile. This makes it the perfect time in 2023 to create and maintain better financial habits for a better financial future.
“The financial landscape has been volatile over the past few years. Filipinos, especially OFW households, should ideally remain ‘cautiously optimistic’ when planning their finances for the coming year,” said Earl Melivo, Interim Managing Director, Asia Pacific .
For OFWs, helping their families maximize remittances back home while also budgeting for themselves abroad is an added challenge. Most of the time, what works is for workers to make the most of their hard-earned income while they strive for better opportunities.
Meanwhile, amid inflation and other economic challenges in 2023, here are three ways OFW households can save and do more:
Special benefits or privileges for OFW families
There are many programs that focus on the welfare of migrant workers and their families.In the Philippines, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), an affiliate of the Department of Immigrant Workers, provides Comprehensive benefits its active members and its beneficiaries. These include health insurance, livelihood assistance and scholarships for dependents.
Maximize the value of remittances
Sending the right amount of money can make a difference. There are pros and cons to sending large or small amounts at once. Smaller and more regular transfers are usually easier to budget for. On the other hand, occasionally transferring larger amounts may be maximized when foreign exchange rates are high.
You can track the latest exchange rates to know the best time to send money, for example via WorldRemit app.
Setting Financial Goals as a Family
A recent trend in social media is to predict and set goals for the year. OFW families can follow the same trend by discussing what they want to achieve together over a meal and/or video call, or as an individual. While everyone has individual goals, thinking about the family’s specific financial goals, such as saving for a down payment on a house or paying off debt, can help motivate each member to make their own adjustments to achieve this shared goal. Not only is this a productive start to the year, but it’s also a great way to build stronger family ties.
“Making a budget and realigning our personal and family priorities to achieve financial goals may not be easy, but it is not impossible. Services like WorldRemit can help OFWs and their families achieve these goals faster, and in the long run Lay the foundation for a financially secure future,” Melivo said.
With the projected increase in worker deployments and remittances, WorldRemit remains committed to championing OFWs – reaching workers wherever they are deployed and staying at the forefront of digital transformation to continuously connect them with their loved ones.
Learn more about creating and maintaining aggressive financial goals, Visit: https://www.worldremit.com/en/blog/
