ADB Says That Worker Deployment and Remittances Return to Pre-pandemic Levels

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), remittances flowing into developing Asian countries from migrant workers are predicted to grow this year. With the reopening of economies, more migrant workers are expected to be deployed and hit pre-pandemic levels.

ADB recently released a report called “COVID-19 and the Deployment of Labor Migrants from Asia: Lessons Learned and Ways Forward,” and here they mentioned that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, remittances in Asian developing countries still remained strong.

“In 2021, the aggregate remittance inflows to the region increased by 2.6 percent, exceeding the 2019 level with the prospect for another growth streak in 2022,” the report said.

In the data from this year, ADB stated that a sustained buoyant pre-pandemic trend was seen in a few of the large migrant-sending countries in Asia.

So far for the year 2022, the Philippines has been recording consistent year-on-year growth.

Data retrieved from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) hit $3.02 billion last August. This marked a 4.4% increase from the $2.89 billion from last year during the same time period.

ADB has said that this upwards trend of deployment of migrant workers in Asia can be seen in the Philippines, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

In a survey conducted among government representatives from nine major migrant-sending countries both in southeast Asia and South Asia, ADB states that the deployment of workers for 2022 would either surpass or exceed the pre-pandemic situation of 2019.

“Positive developments are already underway that could facilitate further deployment of migrant workers. The rapid vaccine rollout and easing of mobility restrictions and border controls have boosted economic activities in many parts of the world,”  says ADB.

Source: Philstar