Davao City (27 November) -- Overseas Filipino (OF) remittances support the economy especially in this time of global economic downturn, Acting Socioeconomic and Planning Secretary Augusto B. Santos said during a recent courtesy call by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Philippine Mission.

Commenting on Philippine growth in the context of an ongoing global economic crisis, Santos said one of the advantages of the Philippine economy is that it is not solely reliant on exports, unlike its Asian neighbors such as Taiwan, and Singapore. He said OF remittances helped the Philippine economy and in a way "covered" the trade gap.

"Our trade gap in terms of commodities is roughly about US$5.5 billion per annum, but the overseas Filipinos are remitting about US$12 billion annually", the acting National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director-general said.

However, Santos added that remittances have limits in the long-term and this has been recognized by the Philippine government. Hence, diversification of exports and strengthening of domestic demand are being supported.

"We are diversifying our exports; we have not abandoned our exports strategies. We are also trying to build our domestic demand," said Santos.

Meanwhile in a separate event, Assistant Director Myrna Asuncion of NEDA's National Planning and Policy Staff reported that forecasts of mass layoffs of Filipino workers abroad due to the global economic crisis have fortunately not materialized.

"There were only 6,951 OFW layoffs from October 2008 to August 2009, compared to more than 3,000 OFWs deployed per day. Unlike the Mexicans, OFWs are well-scattered in many nations," Asuncion said last week in a High Level Consultation on Yen Loan Assistance in NEDA.