MANILA -- A ranking official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the USD600- million current account (CA) deficit assumption for 2017 is “quite doable.”
Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that in the first half of the year, the country registered a CA deficit of USD234 million, about 0.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
The latest figure is lower than the USD424 million deficit same period in 2016.
The country has enjoyed CA surpluses for more than a decade but is now experiencing CA deficits following the strong growth of imports on back of the rising domestic demand.
In the second quarter alone, CA registered a surplus of USD15 million, a turn-around from the USD1.3 billion deficit same period last year.
This transpired after the country registered higher net receipts in trade-in-services and the primary and secondary income accounts.
With this development, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo is optimistic that full year CA will not go beyond the latest assumption.
He cited the seeming stabilization of imports.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that as of last July, imports registered a 3.2 percent decline while exports grew by 10.4 percent.
These results made Guinigundo hope for the sustained rise of exports.
"Exports are recovering in a bigger way so I think the current account position is quite doable,” he added. (PNA)
