Investments, OFW money help widen 7-month BOP surplus

Strong influx of investments and higher amount of money sent home by overseas Filipino workers widened the country's balance of payments (BOP) surplus in the first seven months of the year. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said the country's BOP surplus in the first seven months widened by 22 percent to $3.326 billion from $2.722 billion booked a year earlier. The country's BOP surplus dipped to $89 million in 2008 from $8.67 billion in 2007 due to the full impact of the global financial crisis. The BOP position recovered last year with a surplus of $5.295 billion. This year's surplus would stabilize as the growth of exports is expected to outpace imports, according to Tetangco. —JE, GMANews.TV