BSP profit surges to P117.6 billion in 2024

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earned P117.6 billion in 2024, nearly five times higher than the P26.5 billion in 2023, amid higher revenues and lower spending.

Preliminary data from the BSP showed that its total revenue, comprising interest income on foreign investments, government securities and Treasury bonds, surged by 41.3 percent to P300.4 billion in 2024 from P212.7 billion a year ago.

In 2024, the BSP’s interest earnings rose by nearly 22 percent to P240.8 billion from P197.9 billion in 2023.

Miscellaneous activities such as trading gains or losses, fees, penalties and other operating income, among others, jumped by four times to P59.6 billion from just P14.8 billion in 2023.

On the other hand, the total expenses of the central bank declined by 6.7 percent to P226.7 billion last year from P243 billion a year ago as interest expenses reached P167.2 billion, slightly lower than the P168.3 billion previously.

Other expenses, which include net trading losses, fell by 20.2 percent to P59.5 billion in 2024 from P74.6 billion in 2023.

The BSP also reported a 22.6-percent decrease in gains from foreign exchange fluctuations to P44.1 billion versus a year-ago level of P57 billion.

The BSP books gains or losses from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates on matured, sold, paid and exchanged or settled foreign exchange assets and liabilities. It participates in the foreign exchange market to temper the sharp fluctuations in the exchange rate.

Separate central bank data showed that total assets held by the BSP rose by 3.5 percent to P7.81 trillion in 2024 from P7.55 trillion a year ago. Liabilities went up by 2.4 percent to P7.59 trillion from P7.4 trillion.

The BSP’s net worth stood at P223.5 billion in 2024, rising by 56.8 percent from P142.5 billion a year ago.

In 2023, the central bank registered a net income of P25.5 billion, almost 60-percent lower than the P63.7 billion in 2022 due to significant increases in interest expenses on both local and foreign currency financial liabilities. Despite the drop in net income, the BSP’s total revenue rose by 26.6 percent to P212.8 billion in 2023 from P168.1 billion in the previous year. The growth in revenue was mainly due to the higher interest earned from international reserves, particularly foreign securities and foreign securities under agreements to resell.