Philippines’ 11-month BOP surplus reaches USD6.27bn
The country’s balance of payments (BOP) surplus from January to November this year reached USD6.27bn. It is a reversal of the USD475bn BOP deficit posted in the first 11 months of 2018, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). For November, the BOP surplus stood at USD541m, lower than the USD847m posted in the same month last year but still considered a positive development that supported the strong inflows of hard currency into the country this year.
BOP refers to the total net value of the economy’s dealings with foreign parties. The central bank said the November 2019 inflows were driven by its foreign exchange operations, a rise in the national government’s net foreign currency deposits, and its income from investments overseas. However, the inflows were offset by outflows in the form of payments made by the government on its foreign exchange obligations during the month.
According to the BSP, the total surplus may be partly attributed to reduced trade-in goods account deficit, higher net receipts in the trade-in services account and personal remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos and net inflows of foreign direct investments and foreign portfolio investments.
