The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised the balance of payment surplus forecast this year to $12.8 billion from the $8.1-billion surplus estimate it made in September following the gradual recovery in global trade.
The new BOP surplus target is equivalent to around 3.4 percent of the gross domestic product this year.
BSP Deputy Governor Francisco Dakila said during the online briefing on the Third-Quarter 2020 Balance of Payments Developments Report that the upward revision was supported by the “higher foreign borrowings of the government [amid the pandemic] and lower merchandise trade deficit.”
Current account, one of the main components of the balance of payments, is seen to post a surplus of $8.4 billion in 2020, higher than the previous projection of $6 billion.
Dakila also said the gross international reserves would likely end the year at $105 billion, or equivalent to 11.6 months’ worth of import cover. The GIR estimate was higher than the previous projection of $100 billion.