MANILA, Philippines—The flow of dollars in and out of the Philippines was expected to show marked improvement this year, although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will likely keep capping imports for raw materials and intermediate goods well into 2022.
The latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that its policy-making Monetary Board now expects the country to end 2021 with a balance of payments surplus of $6.2 billion. This is 87 percent more than the $3.3 billion forecast for the year made by the group three months ago.
In 2020, the country ended the year with a dollar surplus of $16 billion—the highest in the country’s history—as spending for imports dropped …
Keep on reading: Monetary Board sees 2021 dollar surplus 87 percent higher than projected