The country’s balance of payments in February posted a surplus of $839 million, higher than the $467-million surplus a year ago, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Wednesday.
The February surplus trimmed the BOP deficit in the first two months to $516 million from a $1.355-billion deficit in January, which was driven mainly by the government’s settlement of foreign debts.
The year-to-date deficit, however, was a reversal of the $3.17-billion surplus in the first two months last year.
“The BOP surplus in February 2020 reflected mainly the inflows arising from the national government’s foreign currency deposits with the BSP, and BSP’s foreign exchange operations as well as income from its investments abroad,” BSP said in a statement.
“These inflows were partially offset, however, by the payments made by the national government for servicing its foreign currency debt obligations during the month in review,” it said.