The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the country’s overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a surplus of $248 million in July, a reversal of the $455-million BOP deficit in the same month last year.
In a statement, the BSP said inflows in July 2019 were reflected in the bank’s foreign exchange operations and income from its investments
abroad, and in the National Government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits. These inflows were offset partially, by outflows reflected in the payments made by the NG on its foreign exchange obligations during the month.
The BOP position for the period January to July 2019 posted a surplus of $5.04 billion, described as a “turnaround” from the $3.71-billion BOP deficit recorded in the seven-month period in 2018.
The surplus, according to the BSP, may be “attributed partially” to remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos during the first half of the year as well as net inflows of foreign direct investments during the first five months of the year.
The BOP position reflects the final gross international reserves (GIR) level of the $85.18 billion as of end-July this year. The GIR represents more than ample liquidity buffer and is equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
“This is also equivalent to 5.2 times of the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual
maturity,” the statement said. (Melo M. Acuña)