The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) reached nearly $108 billion as the balance of payments (BOP) yielded another surplus in August 2024.
Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show that the BOP position posted a surplus of $88 million in August 2024, reversing the $57-million deficit registered in the same month last year.
It said the surplus was mainly due to the net income from the BSP’s foreign investments.
The BOP surplus in August brought the eight-month BOP level to a $1.6-billion surplus, lower than the $2.1-billion surplus recorded from January to August 2023.
Preliminary data showed that the cumulative BOP surplus reflected mainly the narrowing trade in goods deficit, alongside the continued net inflows from personal remittances, trade in services, net foreign direct investments, net foreign borrowings by the national government (NG) and net foreign portfolio investments.
The BOP position reflects an increase in the final gross international reserves (GIR) level to $107.9 billion as of end-August 2024 from $106.7 billion as of end-July 2024.
The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
It was also about six times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the latest BOP and GIR data were likely supported by the continued growth in the country’s structural US dollar inflows such as OFW remittances, BPO revenues, exports, foreign investments and foreign tourism revenues.
“For the coming months, BOP data could still improve with the continued increase/growth in the country’s structural inflows as the economy reopens/recovers further towards greater normalcy, in terms of the continued year-on-year growth in OFW remittances [new record highs on a monthly basis posted in December 2023,]” Ricafort said.
“Going forward, the country’s net foreign direct investments [FDIs] could still pick up, after coming from among the highest levels since the pandemic started, as the economy reopened towards greater normalcy, Philippine economy still expected to have one of the fastest economic growth rates in the region,” he said.
