MANILA - The Philippines recorded a balance of payments (BOP) surplus of $53 million in August, according to the latest data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

This is much lower than the $506 million registered by the BSP in the previous month.

On Monday, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco said that the country's BOP surplus for the year could reach more than $1 billion. The figure, which is higher than the original $700-million surfeit for 2009, would be driven mainly by strong remittance inflows.

Remittances posted the highest year-on-year growth over the past 8 months in July at 9.3%. Since December 2008, the country's remittance inflows have been posting growths of less than 5%.

The BSP has already raised its remittance growth forecast to a range of 2% to 3% from its initial flat growth estimate.

In 2008, the Philippines had a BOP surplus of $89 million, the lowest in 4 years.

Meanwhile, the BSP is currently reviewing its balance of payments figures, with the revised numbers set to be released soon. - abs-cbnNEWS.com, with a report from Reuters