Central bank sees 2007 forex reserves at $24B
Quezon City (28 November) -- BRISK remittances from Filipinos working abroad will likely boost the country's foreign exchange reserves to $24 billion by next year, Governor Amando Tetangco of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippine central bank, said.
The central bank expects remittances next year to hit a record $14 billion.
The amount sent home through commercial banks by some eight million Filipinos overseas reached $9.11 billion in the first nine months of this year, and is expected to reach $11.9 billion by the end of this year, the central bank said.
The gross international reserves rose to a record $22.27 billion at the end of last month, above the central bank's target for the whole year of $22 billion, from $21.59 billion at the end of September.
Central bank sees November inflation at 4.5%-5.2%
THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippine central bank, said on Tuesday it expected consumer prices to rise within a range of 4.5 to 5.2 percent in November from a year earlier, below October's 5.4 percent increase.
"Inflation in November is seen to decelerate further given lower rice and domestic oil prices alongside a strong peso," Governor Amando Tetangco told reporters via a mobile phone text message. (PIA) [top]
