MANILA – The country's overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a surplus in July this year, a reversal from the deficit recorded in July last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has said.
BSP data released on Monday showed that the BOP position during the month recorded a surplus of USD62 million from the USD53 million deficit in July 2023.
"The BOP surplus in July 2024 reflected inflows mainly from the net income from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) investments abroad and the National Government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits with the BSP," said the BSP.
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 July this year, the BOP position recorded a surplus of USD1.5 billion, lower than the USD2.2 billion surplus posted in January to July 2023.
"Based on preliminary data, this cumulative BOP surplus reflected mainly the narrowing trade in goods deficit alongside the continued net inflows from personal remittances, net foreign direct investment, trade in services, net foreign borrowings by the NG, and net foreign portfolio investments," said the BSP.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country's trade deficit from January to June 2024 declined to USD25 billion from USD27.6 billion posted in January to June 2023.
Meanwhile, the BSP said the latest BOP position reflects an increase in the final gross international reserves (GIR) level to USD106.7 billion as of end-July 2024 from USD105.2 billion as of end-June 2024.
"The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income," said the BSP.
The BSP added that it is also about 6.1 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity. (PNA)
