In a press briefing, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Gunigundo said the surplus was a turnaround after posting a $ 303-million deficit in the fourth quarter of 2005.
He stressed the good BOP figure was achieved despite the $ 1.1 billion prepayments made during the last quarter of 2006 by both the national government and the private sector.
Without the prepayment, the BOP surplus for the whole year could have reached $ 6.3 billion.
BOP surplus in the fourth quarter reached $ 1.2 billion, $ 1.7 billion for the CA and $ 800 million for the CFA.
Last year's $ 3.8-billion BOP surplus was the highest since 1999 after the BSP adopted new framework in the compilation of the BOP.
Lou Sicat, BSP Department of Economic Statistics head, in her presentation said exports of goods for the fourth quarter alone reached $ 11.7 billion, boosted by strong sales electronics; minerals and garments; and machinery and transport.
For the whole year, exports of goods reached $ 46.2 billion, higher than previous year’s $ 40.3 billion, up 14.6 percent.
On imports of goods, last quarter’s total imports reached $ 13.5 billion from the $ 12.5 billion during the same quarter the previous year.
Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for last quarter of 2006 reached $ 3.6 billion, higher than the $ 2.9 billion during the same quarter in 2005.
For the whole 2006, OFW remittances reached $ 12.5 billion, up by 17 percent from previous year’s $ 10.7 billion.
Gross international reserves (GIR) stood at $ 22.967 billion as of end-December 2006 from previous year’s $ 18.49 billion and currently is the all-time high.
As of end-February 2007, GIR stood at 24.542 billion US dollars.
Peso in the last quarter stood at 49.77 to a dollar in the fourth quarter, stronger than the 54.63 to a dollar same quarter in 2005. (PNA)
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