Despite a drop in remittances by overseas Filipino workers during the first four months of the year, the Philippines managed to double its balance of payments surplus on strong investment returns from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas placements abroad and foreign exchange operations.
Foreign borrowings by the national government also helped offset the slowdown OFW remittances, the BSP said Thursday.
It said the BOP surplus totaled $4.577 billion in the January-April period, or $2.288 billion wider than the P2.289 billion recorded a year earlier.
The BOP is the difference between foreign exchange inflows and outflows in terms of the country’s transactions with the rest of the world.
In April alone, the payments surplus widened to $1.084 billion or by 7 percent more than the $1.013 billion in April 2010, the Bangko Sentral said. — VS
