MANILA, July 23 — A ranking Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) executive is optimistic on the recovery of the country’s balance of payment (BOP) position in the second half of 2017.
This, even as the end-June level already reached a deficit of USD 706 million, higher than central bank’s USD 500 million deficit target for the year.
“We believe that the second half will show a stronger external payments position on account of the usual current account flows including OFW remittances, tourism receipts, and BPO revenues,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said.
The central bank official said foreign direct investments (FDIs) “are also expected to come in stronger in the second half.”
“So the USD 500 million expected shortfall is still doable,” he added.
BOP is the sum of a country’s total transactions with the rest of the world.
The Philippines BOP position has generally been driven by dollar inflows from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector, and tourism receipts, among others.
Lately these inflows are countered by the country’s higher importation due to rising domestic requirements. (Joann S. Villanueva/PNA)
