The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has released its latest balance of payments (BOP) report, indicating a surplus of $2.15 billion at the close of August.
While this figure is slightly lower than the previous month’s $2.207 billion, it represents a significant turnaround from the $5.49 billion deficit reported during the same period last year.
The BOP serves as a comprehensive record of a country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world over a specified timeframe, capturing the financial interactions between residents and non-residents. A surplus in the BOP signifies that there are more exports or inflows than imports or outflows, while a deficit indicates the opposite.
For August alone, the BOP experienced a modest shortfall of $57 million, nearly matching July’s $53 million deficit. This deficit is substantially lower compared to the $572 million recorded during the same month in the previous year.
The BSP attributed the August deficit to net outflows resulting from the national government’s payments of its foreign currency debt.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed a trade deficit of $32.2 billion for the first seven months, down from $35.8 billion during the same period in 2022.
