Will the US dollar rebound to its former glory?
This is the question that bogs the minds of millions of expatriate workers around the world. And most of the impacts are felt by those whose remittances are in U.S. dollars. At the moment, this madness is affecting millions of families in Asia, particularly in the Philippines, where many overseas wokers are deployed in the different parts of the world to improve their economic conditions.
Bankers and economists have singing the same tune these days, saying that the exchange rate will further drop to around P38 against the greenback. Already, at this point in time, recipients of dollar remittances are complaining about the dollar’s volatility in the markets. Consequently, some seafarers, who don’t get much from what they are exerting for, have already called it bye for now by stalling their plans to get back to ships. Reason? They are frustrated as the way the dollar is behaving in the international markets.
"If the dollar continues to fall, I would rather stay around at maybe open up a business," one of the affected seafarers said. "Besides, there’s no use anymore going abroad to be away from the family."
The Philippine government has considered plans to arrest the impacts of the fast appreciating peso. "This is not good for the economy because it will only create more unemployment in the labor market," explains Ben Diokno, professor of economics at the University of the Philippines. Other economists shared what the former finance secretary had said.