Bangko Sentral says PHL payments position swings to $501-M surplus in July

The Philippine balance of payments (BOP) position registered a $501-million surplus in July, reversing a shortfall in June, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data released Tuesday showed.

 

The July surplus compares with a $24-million deficit in June and a $1.099-billion surplus a year earlier, Bangko Sentral data showed.

 

In the seven months to July, however, the payments position registered a $3.643-billion deficit from a $3.677-billion surplus a year earlier.

 

The BOP deficit in January is reflected in the seven-month BOP data, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company research head Ildemarc Bautista told GMA News Online.

 

"There was a lot of money that came out in response to the quantitative easing issue that the Federal Reserve announced last year," he said.

 

"But the July data was positive and we expect to see some recovery in BOP in the coming months," Bautista added.

 

Philippine transactions with the rest of the world are recorded in terms of balance of payments, and a surplus helps build up foreign exchange reserves that serve as cushion against external shocks. A deficit slices the forex reserves.

Year-end surpluses

 

The Philippines increased its gross international reserves by $300 million to $81 billion as of end-July from $80.7 billion in June.

 

The BSP expects the current account to reach $6 billion and the BOP to end at $1.1 billion surplus this year.

 

These are lower compared with an earlier projection of $11.1-billion current account surplus and $5.3 billion in payments surplus as imports are expected to offset exports due to higher demand from electronic manufacturers and the reconstruction of areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda.

 

The Philippine payments surplus totaled $5.085 billion last year while the current accounts surplus reached $9.4 billion. – VS, GMA News