Barclays: Overseas Pinoy remittances up $3.6 Billion Dollars - 7.5% in February 2014

photo: ph.austronesia.net

 

Philippines - Money sent home by Filipinos abroad could have grown 7.5 percent in February from year-ago levels, UK-based investment bank Barclays said.

 

“Growth in remittances is likely to rebound somewhat after the slowdown in January,” the bank said in a research note.

 

Cash remittances summed up to $1.7 billion in February last year, while personal remittances – cash and non-cash--amounted to $1.881 billion.

 

Official February remittances data will be released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Tuesday, April 15.

 

Latest data from the central bank showed personal remittances rose 6.8 percent to $2.002 billion in January due to the continuous deployment of Filipinos abroad.

 

Cash remittances alone climbed 5.9 percent to $1.799 billion during the first month of the year. These primarily came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan and Canada.

 

The BSP said there were 75,348 approved job orders in January, of which 32.1 percent or 24,187 were processed. The processed job orders were for service, production, and professional, technical, and related jobs in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Kuwait and Qatar.

 

At the same time, expansion of bank and non-bank remittance service providers abroad supported the growth in overseas Filipinos’ remittances.

 

The country’s cash remittances jumped 10 percent to $22.968 billion last year, the highest level ever recorded by the central bank. Personal remittances, meanwhile, rose 8.6 percent to $25.351 billion.

 

Remittances, which supports domestic consumption, made up 8.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product last year which settled at a faster-than-expected 7.2 percent.

 

The BSP hopes to grow cash remittances by five percent this year from the 2013 figure. - philSTAR

 

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Manny Pacquiao Avenges Loss In Dominating Win Over Timothy Bradley

Pacquiao is back on top after defeating Timothy Bradley by unanimous decision. - FORBES

 

Celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Will Ferrell and 50 Cent came out to Las Vegas Saturday night to see if one of the greatest boxers of our generation still could deliver the goods as Manny Pacquiao squared off against Timothy Bradley, Jr. for the WBO title. The Filipino congressman did not disappoint the pro-Pacquiao crowd in a dominating victory over Bradley. The unanimous decision for Pacquiao avenged his June 2012 split decision defeat to Bradley in a bout that almost all observers had Pacquiao winning handily. Pacquiao put the decision in the hands of the judges once again, but they scored it 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112, and we avoided a repeat of what Top Rank CEO Bob Arum called a “death knell for the sport” after the decision for Pacquiao-Bradley I.

 

It was the eighth straight fight for Pacquiao that ended with a decision and not with knockout, but he was more aggressive than he has been in recent bouts. He controlled the second half of the fight winning at least six of the seven final rounds on all three judges’ cards. ”I knew I had to do more in this fight than I did in the last fight,” said Pacquiao after the win.

Pacquiao pocketed $20 million for the fight, down from $26 million for their June 2012 fight. Bradley earned a career best $6 million in his title defense. Pacquiao has earned more than $300 million in his career since he turned pro in 1995.

 

What’s next for Pacquiao? Forget the eternally discussed mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather. The blood feud between Top Rank/HBO and Golden Boy/Showtime/Mayweather is at an all-time high and makes the Hatfields vs. McCoys look quaint. Mayweather and Pacquiao are not crossing party lines to make this happen even it would generate $150 million for the fighters to share.

 

“I think I can fight for two more years,” said Pacquiao after Saturday’s fight. His most likely opponent is the winner of the May 17 matchup between Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado. Arum promotes all three fighters greasing the wheels to an agreement, and the winner of the May fight will be Pacquiao’s mandatory challenger.

 

Marquez is a significant favorite over Alvarado and a fight against Pacquiao would be the fifth in a series between the two warriors that started in 2004. Pacquiao leads the series 2-1 with their first fight ending in a draw. Pacquiao had a 15-fight winning streak before Bradley defeated him under a cloud of controversy in 2012. Marquez knocked out Pacquiao in December 2012 leading many to question if Pacquiao was nearing the end. Pacquiao avenged his Bradley loss and no doubt would like to do the same with Marquez.

 

Money reportedly held up previous negotiations on Pacquiao-Marquez 5, which resulted in Pacquiao in the ring against Bradley Saturday night. But Marquez is coming off a split decision loss to Bradley in October and a showdown with Pacquiao is his chance to score a career high payday. ”I have no problem with fighting Marquez again, but that’s up to my promoter, Bob Arum,” Pacquiao said.

 

Fans have not tired of the rivalry with the last two bouts averaging 1.3 million pay-per-view buys and both among the biggest audiences of Pacquiao’s long, successful PPV career. Look for Arum to make a fifth bout in the stories franchise for later in 2014. - FORBES

 

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