PHL payments surplus surges to four-month high in November – Bangko Sentral

The Philippine balance of payments (BOP) surplus hit a four-month high on increasing exports and remittances in November, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.  

 

Central bank data released Friday show the country's balance of payments position registered a surplus of $837 million in November from $5-million surplus a month earlier. 

 

The latest BOP number is the highest since July's $1.099 billion. But the 11-month BOP tally was $4.66 billion, down 45.7 percent year-on-year.

 

“Well, basically the drivers of the balance of payments in November were increases in exports and remittances,” Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told reporters at a briefing Friday. 

 

Cash remittances – money sent through banks and transfer agents – grew at annual rate of 7.0 percent to $2.062 billion in October, the highest monthly amount on record, latest government data on money transfers showed. 

 

Guinigundo said the remittance numbers for November are likely be higher as Filipinos living and working overseas were sending back more money to their loved ones for the holiday season and to help in the efforts to rebuild the places destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda.

 

Exports receipts grew by 14 percent annually to $5.025 billion in October, faster than the 5.1 percent in September and 6.1 percent in October last year, latest government data also showed.

 

“The improving BOP position in November shows the incipient recovery in the global economy,” said Guinigundo. 

 

BOP is the summary of transactions between the Philippines and the rest of the world.

 

Guinigundo said aid money for relief and reconstruction in Yolanda-hit areas has not been accounted for, as most of those announced last month were pledges. Thus, the BOP surplus is expected to increase. – VS/KBK, GMA News