MANILA - The Philippines recorded a balance of payments (BOP) surplus of $502 million in September, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Monday.

The latest figure is much higher than the $53 million registered by the BSP in the previous month. It brought the country's year-to-date BOP surplus to $3.277 billion.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco said the country's BOP surplus for the year could rise to between $4 billion and $5 billion. The figure, higher than the BSP's original estimate of a $700-million surfeit, would be driven mainly by strong remittance inflows.

The BSP now sees a 4% growth in remittances this year, higher than its initial flat growth estimate.

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