BOP yields $903-M surplus for first 8 months

The country’s balance of payments (BOP) yielded a $903-million surplus during the first eight months of the year, a sharp turnaround from the deficit of $1.133 billion incurred in the same period last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

The latest surplus, however, was significantly lower than the $1.084 billion recorded during the first seven months of the year.

The BSP said both the current account and the capital and financial account continued to record strong performances, bolstered by huge dollar inflows from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The current account (CA) surplus for the first eight months almost doubled to $3.532 billion due to stronger balances in the income account.

BSP Governor Rafael Buenaventura said that although the US and Japan continued to be vital export markets, the momentum came from the increase in the share of exports to key Asian countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.

Buenaventura said exports continued its strong performance in August with the eight-month shipments rising 8.3 percent to $22.319 billion from a year earlier.

Buenaventura said this was the fifth consecutive month that exports recorded a year-on-year growth after declining for 14 straight months.

Imports of goods also climbed for the seventh consecutive month since February following increased purchases of raw materials and capital goods.

The BSP said imports from January-August were up by 7.8 percent at $21.293 billion.

The BSP said purchases of raw materials and intermediate goods which accounted for more than two-fifths of total imports, expanded by 12.1 percent to $8.974 billion due to the increase in the importation of materials and accessories for the manufacture of electrical equipment.

According to Buenaventura, remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), likewise grew by 22.6 percent and effectively brought the income account to a surplus of $2.906 billion. This alone represented a 54.5-percent improvement from the deficit recorded last year.

On the other hand, portfolio investments for the first eight months of the year fell to $925 million from $1.301 billion during the first seven months.

The BSP also said that investments in debt securities posted a net inflow of $682 million compared to the $204-million outflow last year while foreign investments in equity securities went up by 10.2 percent to $367 million.