PH posts BOP surplus, trims 8-mos deficit

Shutterstock photo

MANILA – Despite the huge deficit on the eight-month external payments, the country made a surplus on the balance of payments (BOP) for the second straight month in August this year.

Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said during a press conference on Monday that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is maintaining its $1.1-billion BOP surplus forecast for the 2014.

A surplus means that the foreign money entering the country is more than the amount that exited.

For the month of August, a surplus of $114 million was registered, according to the latest data from BSP.

This figure posts a reversal of the $318-million deficit recorded in the same month last year, and is also smaller than the $501 million in July.

The surplus allowed the country to make up for the eight-month BOP deficit from end-July’s .

643 billion.

According to Diwa, the deficit was a result of the “continuing deficit in foreign portfolio investments.”

“The market has started to discriminate as early as the second quarter of 2014. As a result, we’ve seen a gradual return of capital to emerging markets, particularly the Philippines,” he added.