Current account surplus rises to $7B in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s current account surplus posted a double-digit growth of 13.3 percent in the first nine months of the year on the back of higher net receipts of current transfers, including robust remittances from overseas Filipinos as well as the lower deficit in trade-in-goods, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

In a press conference, BSP Department of Economic Statistics director Rosabel Guerrero said the Philippines posted a current account surplus of $7.019 billion or 5.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from January to September this year or $825 million higher than the surplus of $6.194 billion or 5.4 percent of GDP registered in the same period last year.

“The 13.3 percent growth was traced to higher net current transfers and services receipts, combined with a lower deficit trade-in-goods, which more than compensate for the increase in net income payments,” Guerrero stressed.

Data showed that net current transfers inched up by 2.4 percent to $12.263 billion in the first nine months of the year from $11.974 billion in the same period last year as remittances from overseas Filipinos increased by 6.9 percent to $11.9 billion during the period.

Guerero pointed out that the deficit in the trade-in-goods improved by 8.6 percent to $6.3 billion while the surplus in the trade-in-services inched up by 2.2 percent to $1.3 billion.

The deficit in the trade-in-goods, she said, could be attributed to the faster pace of acceleration of exports that surged by 39.6 percent to $37.74 billion than the 29.9 percent increase in imports to $43.99 billion during the first nine months of the year.

“Brisk trading activity was evident during the nine-month review period as growth in both exports and imports of goods were in stark contrast with the declines recorded a year ago,” she added.

She said the increase was due mainly to higher export revenues from business process outsourcing (BPO)-related services specifically business services as well as computer and information services.

“Companies in the country’s BPO sector anticipate that their businesses will grow substantially as the shift to non-voice and more complex services continues to accelerate,” Guerrero said.

Furthermore, she said that the deficit in the income account widened by 47.3 percent to $249 million due mainly to the higher net payments in the investment income account.

The BSP official explained that the capital and financial account balance posted a net inflow of $1 billion in the first nine months of the year from a net outflow of $1.7 billion in the same period last year.

BSP Deputy Gov. Diwa Guinigundo said the central bank sees the country’s current surplus hitting $9.2 billion this year.

During the first nine months of the year, the country’s balance of payments (BOP) position posted a surplus of $6.5 billion while the gross international reserves (GIR) reached $53.8 billion.