BOP back to surplus in first eight months
Credit to Author: LISBET K. ESMAEL| Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2019 17:21:21 +0000
MONEY sent home by overseas Filipinos helped the Philippines’ payment position swing back to surplus in the first eight months of 2019.
In a statement on Thursday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the country’s overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a $5.53-billion surplus in January-to-August, compared to the $2.44-billion deficit in the same period last year.
It attributed the latest amount to “remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos during the first seven months of the year, and to net inflows of foreign direct investments and portfolio investments during the first half of the year.”
For August alone, the country posted a BOP surplus of $493 million, the highest in three months. The figure, however, is lower than the $1.27 billion in the same month last year.
“Inflows in August 2019 were reflected in the national government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits and [the] BSP’s income from its investments abroad,” the Bangko Sentral explained.
“These inflows were offset partially, however, by outflows representing payments made by the NG on its foreign exchange obligations during the month in review,” it said.
The latest BOP level reflected the country’s final gross international reserves (GIR) level of $86.03 billion as of end-August.
The GIR level is equivalent to 7.5 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, representing “a more than ample liquidity buffer,” the BSP said.
“It is also equivalent to 5.5 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4 times based on residual maturity,” it added.