The country’s balance of payments posted a surplus of $1.3 billion in March, higher than $754 million a year ago, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.
“The BOP surplus in March 2023 reflected inflows arising mainly from the national government’s net foreign currency loans, which were deposited with the BSP and net income from the BSP’s investments abroad,” the BSP said in a statement Wednesday.
The surplus in March brought the first-quarter BOP position to a $3.5-billion surplus, up from the $495-million surplus in the same period last year.
Preliminary data showed that the cumulative BOP surplus reflected inflows that stemmed mainly from personal remittances, net foreign borrowings by the national government and foreign direct investments.
Meanwhile, the gross international reserves level increased to $101.5 billion as of end-March from $98.2 billion as of end-February. The latest GIR level represented a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.6 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
It was also about 6.1 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.2 times based on residual maturity.
BOP is the difference in total value between payments into and out of a country over a period. The BSP reduced its BOP deficit forecast this year to $1.6 billion from its previous assumption of a $5.4-billion deficit in anticipation of improved external sector.
The GIR is expected to reach $100 billion this year, higher than the previous forecast of $93 billion, and seen to increase further to $102 billion next year.
Remittances, however, are expected to grow slower by 3 percent this year and in 2024 compared to the previous assumption of 4 percent made earlier.
The BOP yielded a deficit of $7.3 billion last year, a turnaround from the $1.3-billion surplus in 2021.