The country’s balance of payments position posted a deficit of $312 million in June, a reversal of the $80-million surplus recorded in the same month last year, as the government settled some of its foreign debt, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday.
“The BOP deficit in June 2021 reflected mainly the outflows arising from the foreign currency withdrawals of the national government from its deposits with the BSP as the NG settled its foreign currency debt obligations and paid for various expenditures, and the BSP’s net foreign exchange operations,” the BSP said in a statement.
“These were partly offset, however, by the inflows from the BSP’s income from its investments abroad,” it said.
Data showed that the BOP position in the first half registered a deficit of $1.94 billion, a reversal of the $4.11-billion surplus a year ago. This was partly attributed to a wider merchandise trade deficit.