MANILA, Philippines – The central bank is revising the treatment of the special drawing rights (SDRs) received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its statistics beginning with the September reporting, which will raise all external sector numbers such as the balance of payment (BOP) surplus to near $5 billion at the end of this month.

In the first eight months, BOP which summarizes the country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world, was in excess of $3.48 billion. As of the first week of September, the number was $3.81 billion.

The revision will also adjust the 2009 BOP surplus higher from $5.295 billion to $6.421 billion, taking into account the SDR allocation in the amount of $1.126 billion, which will be treated as a transaction, said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Director for the Department of Economic Statistics, Rosabel B. Guerrero in a memo.

In the same memo, the Monetary Stability Sector said the revised treatment of SDR allocation, upon the recommendation of the IMF, will significantly impact on various external sector statistics not only the BOP, but also the external debt and the gross international reserves (GIR).

As for its impact on the debt stock, BSP Director for the International Operations Department, Patria B. Angeles, said this will increase by the amount of the accumulated SDR allocations, which is about $1.32 billion. This will adjust debt stock to $56.73 billion as of the end of the first quarter, from the previous reported of $55.41 billion. The second quarter external debt numbers ending in September will begin to reflect the changes.