The country’s balance of payments (BoP) was a surplus of $5 billion in 2009, said central bank sources citing preliminary numbers.

The figure was shorter than the International Monetary Fund’s projection of $6 billion BoP for 2009, but still significantly higher than 2008’s small surplus of $89 million.

The latest official announcement for the BoP was a $4.08-billion surplus as of the end of November but last month, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said the emerging BoP was $4.9 billion and that in the finally tally, it could “get higher” because of government foreign borrowings.

Last year the government's foreign-denominated loans and issued notes totaled $4.89 billion, exceeding the program by $500 million.

For this year, the BOP forecast of $3 billion to $4 billion is currently being reviewed by the inter-agency Development Budget Coordinating Committee.

The IMF said in November that it is expecting the 2009 BoP to hit $6 billion while for this year its estimate was also higher at $4.5 billion.

BOP summarizes the country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world and is determined by such indicators as exports/imports, foreign direct investments, foreign portfolio investments or hot money and remittances.

Current account surplus, part of BoP tally, is expected to surpass the 2009 forecast of $6 billion while the foreign direct investments are expected to reach $1.5 billion. Hot money or foreign portfolio investments, which stood at $431 million as of end-November, are still seen to reach $3 billion with the National Government’s $1 billion global bonds last October.