THE country’s overall balance of payments (BOP) position continued to post a surplus in August this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
Data released by the BSP on Thursday, September 19, showed that the BOP position last month recorded a surplus of USD88 million, a reversal from the USD57 million BOP deficit recorded in August 2023.
“The BOP surplus in August 2024 reflected inflows mainly from the net income from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ investments abroad,” the central bank said.
The BOP is a summary of the economic transactions of a country with the rest of the world for a specific period.
The overall position can be in surplus, deficit or balance.
For January to August this year, the BOP position recorded a surplus of USD1.6 billion, lower than the USD2.1 billion surplus recorded in the same period last year.
“Based on preliminary data, this cumulative BOP surplus reflected mainly the narrowing trade in goods deficit alongside the continued net inflows from personal remittances, trade in services, net foreign direct investments, net foreign borrowings by the National Government, and net foreign portfolio investments,” the central bank said.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the trade deficit for January to July 2024 reached USD29.9 billion, down from the USD31.8 billion in the same period last year.
The BSP meanwhile said the BOP position reflects an increase in the final gross international reserves (GIR) level to USD107.9 billion as of end-August 2024 from USD106.7 billion as of end-July 2024.
The BSP said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
It is also about six times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity. (PNA)
