Overall BOP position $2.7b surplus in January 2019 

February 19, 2019

The country's overall balance of payments (BOP) position yielded a surplus of $2.7 billion in January, a reversal of the $531 million BOP deficit  in January 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Tuesday. 

Inflows in January stemmed from the national government's (NG) net foreign currency deposits, BSP's foreign exchange operations and income from its investments abroad.

These were partially offset, however, by the payments made by the NG for its foreign exchange obligations during the month in review.

The net inflows in foreign portfolio investments (net BSP-registered transactions based on custodian banks' reports) contributed partly to the BOP surplus recorded in January. 

The reported BOP position reflected the final gross international reserves (GIR) level of $82.49 billion as of end-January.

At this level, the GIR represents a more than ample liquidity buffer and is equivalent to 7.3 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

It is also equivalent to 6.3 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.2 times based on residual maturity. DMS