When I was younger, the only foreign country my ears had heard of is Saudi. I remember relatives coming home from this Middle East country, garnished with gold all over their neck and ring fingers. With my young mind, I formed a deep admiration for the work they do even if I don’t really understand. Young as I may, I knew that working abroad entails sacrifices.
According to news I heard some time ago, there are 4 out of 10 Filipinos who work overseas. For the last decade, there has been a sharp increase in the purchasing power of the Filipinos because of inflow of remittances abroad from our kababayans who have chosen to survive the distance in exchange of greener pastures. I must know, for I am married to an OFW.
One particular interest we, OFW and beneficiaries alike, pay the most attention is on the foreign currency exchange rate against the peso. There are numerous currencies in existence but the universal yardstick used is the US Dollar. Most overseas Filipinos earn wages in dollars. Our purchasing power relies on the strength or weakness of Philippine peso against the US dollar.
We were taught in school that the appreciation of peso is good for our country. But in a country with a big population as the Philippines, my opinion is that this single appreciation of Peso against the USD has the advantages for some and a downside for others. Families relying on OFW remittances may suddenly find themselves with lesser money to spend with a stronger peso. When the peso is strong, that means the USD exchange rate is lower. Relatively, this is bad news for most OWF beneficiaries but sounds good to the government because it takes lower amount of USD to pay for its foreign debts. Likewise, peso depreciation affects certain groups in the society while it benefits some, like OFW beneficiaries. In a scenario of a weak peso, exporters regard the higher exchange currency for the USD payments they receive. The same is the benefit for the OFW and their families.
Whatever the currency exchange rate is, may every Filipino value the hard work and sacrifice their family-member exerts just to send home the money.
Prudent spending begins in knowing how much you have available for disposal. An ideal equation is income less savings is equal to expenses. The XE currency converter tool is most useful to anyone who needs to determine money in a certain currency. Be it Peso, Dollar, Pounds, Euro, Riyal, Ringgit or others, XE.com can help you convert your currency from one to another. To find out more on how easy this works, you may refer to the embedded presentation below.
Easy Tutorial on How to Use XE.com by Isabel Del Rosario
No comments:
Post a Comment