Multi-currency bank accounts for OFWs pushed

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has been urged to allow overseas Filipino workers to open multi-currency bank accounts in a bid to cushion the effects of the stronger peso on millions of OFW families.

Recruitment industry leader Lito Soriano said that having multi-currency accounts can prevent further losses on the income of OFWs whenever they send money to their families.

He added that OFWs can deposit their money in different currencies directly to their foreign currency accounts.

“If the BSP allows the request of the OFW sector, our overseas workers can deposit local currency earnings like riyals, dirhams, euros, pounds, HK dollars, NT dollars, Malaysian ringit and other foreign currencies convertible by the BSP to their foreign currency accounts and reduce the cost of exchanging their local currency to US dollars for remittances to their beneficiaries,” Soriano explained.

He said that OFWs are earning less since the dollar’s value dropped to P41 to $1 compared to P55 to $1 in 2004.

“The dollar has lost 27 percent of its value and this has affected millions of OFWs and their families,” he said.

“Allowing banks to accept foreign currency deposits will keep the value of the currency intact and can be converted into pesos directly by the depositor,” Soriano added.

He said that the government’s standard salary table is computed in dollars and foreign employers convert these wages into local currency for payment to their employees.