Dubai crisis threatens OFW market
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009Analysts forecast cut in remittances
MANILA, Philippines - A brewing debt crisis in Dubai has raised a specter of gloom on the Philippines, where many households have been relying on petrodollars sent home by a large pool of overseas workers in the Middle East.
While the immediate impact is in the form of escalating risk aversion in the financial markets, the sharpest blow could come from the potential loss of overseas Filipino jobs that, in turn, could curb remittance flows and dampen domestic consumer spending if the Dubai crisis worsens, analysts and economists said.
Global financial markets were recently rattled by news that Dubai’s main investment arm, Dubai World, was seeking at least a six-month delay on repaying its $60 billion in debt.
