The Philippines had a balance of payments surplus of $631 million in December, bringing its full 2006 BOP surplus to $3.77 billion -- the highest in at least seven years, the central bank said on Wednesday.
The full-year figure was higher than the central bank's estimate of $2.8 billion and also above the BOP surplus of $2.41 billion in 2005.
"The 2006 BOP surplus reflected the double-digit growth in overseas foreign worker remittances, narrowing trade deficit following strong merchandise exports, sustained foreign investment inflows and higher investment income of the (central bank)," Governor Amando Tetangco said in a mobile phone text message.
Tetangco told reporters on Tuesday he expected the 2006 balance of payments surplus, closely watched in the Philippines because of the central government's debts of around $79 billion, to come in at over $3 billion.
The 2006 BOP surplus was the highest since 1999, when the current definition of BOP began being used.
The country's rising BOP surplus has been supported by sustained strong foreign exchange remittances from over 8 million Filipinos working overseas -- accounting for more than a tenth of the country's population -- and rising exports and foreign direct and portfolio investments.
The central bank has yet to provide a full breakdown of the balance of payments surplus. But the current account, recording the country's trade in goods and services as well as income and cash transfers including remittances, was earlier forecast by the central bank to reach a surplus of $3.8 billion in 2006 from $2.354 billion in 2005.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), an inter-agency group which sets and monitors the government's economic targets and performance, expects the current account to have reached a surplus of $4.9 billion in 2006 and hit a higher surplus of $5.4 billion in 2007, according to latest estimates.
The latest current account estimates assumed higher export receipts and remittance flows.
The central bank expects remittances sent through formal channels in 2006 to have hit a new record of $12.3 billion from $10.7 billion in 2005, and rising further to $13.5 billion this year.
http://archives.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p070120.htm
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