MANILA – The country’s overall balance of payments (BOP) position in April posted a deficit of $270 million, a reversal from the $917 million surplus recorded a year earlier, the central bank said.
“Outflows in April 2018 stemmed mainly from payments made by the national government (NG) for its maturing foreign exchange obligations and foreign exchange operations of the BSP,” according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
“These were partially offset, however, by income from the BSP’s investments abroad and net foreign currency deposits of the NG during the month,”
The cumulative BOP position yielded a wider deficit of $1.497 billion in January-April, compared with a $78-million deficit in the same comparable period in 2017.
The central bank noted there was a widening merchandise trade deficit, based on Philippine Statistics Authority data, in the first quarter of the year “that was brought about by the sustained rise in imports to support domestic economic expansion.”
The BOP position is consistent with the final gross international reserves level of $79.609 billion as of end-April 2018.
“At this level, the GIR represents more than ample liquidity buffer and is equivalent to 7.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income,” the central bank noted.
“It is also equivalent to 5.4 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.0 times based on residual maturity,” it said.
The BPO position is a summary of the economic transactions of a country with the rest of the world during a specific period. It serves as an accounting statement on the economic dealings between residents of the country and non-residents. (GMA News)
