Current account, one of the main components of the balance of payments, posted a record deficit of $7.9 billion in 2018, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said Friday.
He said the all-time high deficit was about 2 percent of the gross national income and 2.4 percent of the gross domestic product.
“Prior to 2018, the highest current account deficit was recorded in 1997 at $4.4 billion. At that time, we are using GNP at 5.1 percent,” Guinigundo said during the fourth quarter BoP briefing.
He said the deficit was also significantly higher than the current account deficit of $2.1 billion deficit (0.7 percent of GDP) registered in 2017.
“This developed as the widening deficit in the trade-in-goods account more than offset the higher net receipts posted in the trade-in-services, and primary and secondary income accounts,” he said.
The trade-in-goods deficit for full-year 2018 rose 21.9 percent to $49 billion, reflecting the 9.4-percent expansion in imports of goods and the 0.3 percent decline in exports.