The Philippines balance of payments (BOP) position recorded a surplus of $1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2024, a turnaround from the $1.2-billion deficit reported in the same period of 2023, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.
“The reversal to a BOP surplus in Q2 2024 was due to significantly higher net inflows posted in the financial account, notwithstanding the increase in the current account deficit,” the BSP said.
It said that from January to June, the BOP position also posted a surplus of $1.4 billion, lower than the $2.3-billion surplus recorded a year earlier. The BOP surplus in the first half reflected mainly the sustained net inflows from the financial account.
It said that the current account deficit in the second quarter reached $5.1 billion, equivalent to -4.6 percent of the gross domestic product, higher by 25 percent than the $4.1-billion deficit or -3.9 percent of the GDP posted a year ago.
“This development was driven by the expansion in the trade in goods gap and lower net receipts in trade in services. This was partly muted by higher net receipts in the primary and secondary income accounts,” the BSP said.
The capital account recorded net receipts of $18 million in the second quarter, up by 15.4 percent from the $15 million net receipts recorded a year earlier. This developed on account of the higher net receipts in the national government’s (NG) other capital transfers (at $17 million from $15 million).
The current account recorded a deficit of $7.1 billion (equivalent to -3.2 percent of the GDP) from January to June, lower by 17.8 percent than the $8.6-billion deficit (-4.1 percent of the GDP) in the same period last year.
The BSP also said the financial account recorded net inflows (or net borrowings by residents from the rest of the world) of $5.3 billion in the second quarter of 2024, notably higher than the $204 million net inflows in the same period last year.
“This outcome resulted mainly from the reversal of the portfolio investment account to net inflows [from net outflows] and sustained net inflows in the direct and other investment accounts,” the BSP said.
Meanwhile, the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) rose to $105.2 billion as of end-June 2024 from $99.4 billion a year ago.
The peso averaged 57.80 against the US dollar in the second quarter, depreciating by 3.2 percent from 55.96 in the first quarter of 2024.
The peso depreciated by 3.7 percent from 55.65 against the greenback in the second quarter of 2023. It averaged 56.88 in the first six months, depreciating by 2.9 percent from a average of 55.25 a dollar a year ago.
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