Overall BOP position registers $467 million surplus in April

May 20, 2019

The overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a surplus of $467 million in April, a reversal of the $270 million BOP deficit in the same month last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ( BSP) said Monday.

Inflows in April stemmed mainly from the BSP's foreign exchange operations and income from its investments abroad, and the national government's net foreign currency deposits.

These were offset partially, however, by payments made by the national government for its foreign exchange obligations.

On a cumulative basis, the BOP position for the period January – April posted a surplus of US $4.27 billion, a turnaround from the US $1.5 billion BOP deficit recorded in the first four months of 2018.

The surplus may be attributed partly to remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos and net inflows of foreign portfolio investments (net BSP-registered transactions based on custodian banks' reports) during the first quarter of the year, and net inflows of foreign direct investments in first two months of 2019.

The reported BOP position reflected the final gross international reserves (GIR) level of US $83.88 billion as of end-April.

At this level, the GIR represents a more than ample liquidity buffer and is equivalent to 7.4 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

It is also equivalent to 5 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.5 times based on residual maturity. DMS