Balance of payments surplus reaches highest level in 10 years – The Manila Times



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The country’s balance of payments (BoP) posted a 10-year high surplus of $ 3.43 billion in October, bringing the year-to-date tally to more than $ 10 billion, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (BSP).

Central bank data released Thursday showed the amount was larger than the
Surplus of $ 2.10 billion and $ 163 million a month and a year ago, respectively. It was also the largest since the surplus of $ 3.95 billion in November 2010.

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral said that the October surplus “mainly reflected the BSP’s income from its investments abroad, the national government’s foreign currency deposits in the BSP, and the BSP’s foreign exchange proceeds. “.

It was partially offset by the government’s external debt service, he added.

The latest monthly amount increased the surplus to $ 10.31 billion in the first 10 months, higher than the surplus of $ 5.73 billion in the same period in 2019.

The tally is even higher than BSP’s revised forecast of a $ 600 million surplus for this year.

“According to preliminary data, the current balance of payments surplus was supported mainly by external loans from the national government and a lower merchandise trade deficit, along with sustained net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), personal remittances and trade in services. Bangko Sentral said. said.

The Treasury Office previously reported that the government’s external liabilities rose 1 percent to P2.93 trillion at the end of September.

The latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country’s trade deficit fell to $ 16.1 billion in the first nine months of 2020 from $ 30.5 billion in the same period last year.

Net FDI inflows from January to August were down 5.6 percent to $ 4.43 billion from $ 4.69 billion year on year. Net revenue from trade in services decreased 11.9 percent to $ 5.2 billion in the first half of the year.

Personal remittances expanded to $ 24.302 billion in the nine months through September.

The balance of payments position reflected the final level of gross international reserves (GIR) of $ 103.8 billion at the end of October. GIRs are also known as foreign exchange or dollar reserves.

This level “represents a more than adequate external liquidity cushion, which can cushion the national economy against external shocks,” the central bank said.

The final GIR is equivalent to 10.3 months of imports of goods and payments for services and primary income. It is also approximately nine times the country’s short-term foreign debt based on original maturity and 5.4 times based on residual maturity.



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