By Joann Santiago
MANILA, Jan. 20 (PNA) — The Philippines’ posted a lower-than-target deficit in its 2014 balance of payment (BOP) position after it registered a surplus last December.
Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Tuesday showed that the country registered a USD 843 million surplus last December, a reversal from the USD 314 million deficit in the previous month. This is also higher than year-ago’s USD 419 million surplus.
This brought the full-year deficit to USD 2.9 billion, lower than the USD 3.4 billion target for the year, which in turn has been revised from USD 1.1 billion surplus target earlier.
In 2013, the country posted a USD 5.1 billion BOP surplus.
The last time the country posted a full-year deficit in its BOP position, which is the sum of its total transaction with the rest of the world, is in 2004 at USD 280 million.
Despite having a BOP deficit, Philippine monetary officials are confident that the country’s external payments position remains solid.
As of December 2014, the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) stood at USD 79.81 billion, a tad lower than year-ago’s USD 83.2 billion.
BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr, earlier said the deficit in the BOP position was due to the impact of the policy normalization in advanced economies to the capital account of the BOP. (PNA)