BSP profit soars to P85.5 billion in H1

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) more than tripled its earnings to P85.5 billion in the first half, from P19.86 billion in the same period last year, mainly driven by higher revenues and lower spending.

Preliminary data showed the total revenue of the central bank, mostly comprised of interest income on foreign investments, government securities and Treasury bonds, surged by 56.9 percent to P164.08 billion in the first semester from P104.58 billion a year ago.

Interest earnings climbed by 28.2 percent to P119.76 billion from P93.41 billion. Meanwhile, miscellaneous activities, such as trading gains or losses, fees, penalties and other operating income, among others stood at P44.32 billion in the first half, nearly four times higher than the P11.17 billion a year prior.

On the other hand, the central bank’s total expenses went down by 8.9 percent to P106.13 billion from P116.52 billion. While interest expenses inched up by 5.2 percent to P84.31 billion from P80.15 billion, other expenses fell by 40 percent to P21.82 billion from P36.38 billion.

The BSP also booked a net gain of P27.56 billion from foreign exchange fluctuations in the first semester, 13.4 percent lower than last year’s P31.81 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 edged higher by eight percent to P7.87 trillion from P7.29 trillion a year ago. Liabilities went up by 7.6 percent to P7.67 trillion from P7.13 trillion previously.

The BSP’s net worth stood at P207.73 billion as of June, rising by 24.1 percent from last year’s P167.34 billion.

Based on the BSP’s 2023 Annual Report, the central bank registered a net income of P25.5 billion last year, 59.9 percent lower than the P63.7 billion seen in 2022 due to significant increases in interest expenses on both local and foreign currency financial liabilities.

Despite the drop in net income, total revenue rose by 26.6 percent to P212.8 billion in 2023 from P168.1 billion in the previous year.