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Philippines' Jan-Nov '99 current account surplus $6.446bln

MANILA: The Philippines posted a current account surplus of $6.446 billion from January to November in 1999, a huge jump from the year-earlier $777 million, the central bank said on Sunday.

It said the current account surplus in the first 11 months last year also exceeded the full-year 1999 target of $1.665 billion.

With the high current account surplus, the country's balance of payments from January to November last year yielded a surplus of $3.54 billion, nearly triple the previous year's $1.192 billion surplus, the central bank said.

The bank said the current account was boosted by robust exports.

Merchandise exports during the 11-month period reached $32.089 billion, a 19 percent improvement over the corresponding year-ago level, the central bank said in a statement.

It said electronic products registered a 24.7 percent growth and remained the top export earner with a 60.7 percent share of total exports.

Imports of goods during the period grew 2.2 percent to $28.072 billion, the statement said.-Reuters