Philippines' April BOP surplus widens to $982M

The Philippines' balance of payments (BOP) surplus totaled $982 million in April, from $466 million a year earlier, propped up by export and tourism receipts, money transfers from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and strong revenues from the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. BSP Deputy Gov. Diwa Guinigundo said the BOP surplus last month reflected the continued resiliency of the Philippines' external position. "We saw exports recovering sharply, overseas Filipino remittances continuing to surge, BPOs remaining strong, and tourist receipts sustaining momentum. On top of that, we also witnessed inflows of foreign borrowings and investments supporting the BOP position," Guinigundo stressed. In the first four months, the BSP said the country's BOP position improved by 6.7 percent to $2.345 billion from $2.198 billion in the same period last year. Latest data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that merchandise exports surged by 42.9 percent to $11.326 billion in the first quarter from $7.926 billion a year earlier. The amount of money sent home by OFWs increased by 7 percent to $4.339 billion from $4.057 billion in the same comparable period, with the rising demand for professional and skilled Filipino workers abroad. The BSP said the Philippine’s BOP position, which measures the difference between the mount of foreign exchange coming into and going out of the country, would post a $3.7-billion surplus this year from an earlier forecast of $3.2 billion.—VS,GMANews.TV