THE Philippines posted a balance of payments (BOP) surplus of $642 million in December 2023, bringing its full-year external position to a positive territory and pushing the gross international reserves above the $103-billion mark that helped support the value of the peso amid global challenges.
Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the BOP yielded a surplus of $642 million in December, higher than the $612-million surplus recorded in the same month in 2022.
“The BOP surplus in December 2023 reflected inflows arising mainly from the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, net income from the BSP’s investments abroad, and the BSP’s net foreign exchange operations,” it said in a statement.
The peso traded within a range of 55 to 56 against the US dollar in December. It closed at 55.97 Friday.
The BOP surplus in December brought the 2023 BOP level to a $3.7-billion surplus, a reversal from the $7.3-billion deficit in 2022.
Based on preliminary data, this development reflected mainly the improvement in the balance of trade alongside the higher net inflows from personal remittances, trade in services and foreign borrowings by the national government, the BSP said.
Net inflows from foreign direct investments contributed to the surplus, the BSP said.
The strong BOP position also allowed the BSP to increase its gross international reserves (GIR) to $103.8 billion as of end-December 2023, up from $102.7 billion as of end-November.
The BSP said that at this level, the December 2023 GIR represented a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
“Moreover, it is also about 6 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity,” the BSP said.