THE $5.8 billion in current account surplus projected by the central bank for 2016 has assumed a downward bias, following a lower surplus in the first-half of the year. In a press briefing, an official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas noted a lower current account surplus in the second quarter is likely to shrink the 2016 surplus from a year earlier. This brought the first-half current account surplus of $778 million lower by 85.2 percent from $5.25 billion a year earlier. Singapore-based bank DBS expects the current account surplus to reach $4 billion this year, as exports fall by another 5 percent. “As evidenced in the growth of imported capital goods, the narrowing of the current account surplus merely reflects the increase in domestic investment,” Cahyadi noted.

Source: Manila Times September 16, 2016 16:34 UTC