MANILA, Feb. 18 (PNA) — The Philippines registered a USD 136 million in its balance of payments (BOP) position in the first month of 2015.
Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Wednesday showed that the surplus is a reversal from the USD 4.48 billion deficit same period in 2014.
However, it is lower than the USD 864 million surplus the country posted in December 2013.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the country’s BOP surplus last January “confirms our initial forecast of USD 1 billion surplus for 2015.”
“Foreign portfolio investments alone ended January with a net surplus. I would also say that the current account must have continued to be resilient particularly exports, tourism, BPO (business process outsourcing), and remittances,” he added.
BOP is the sum of a country’s total transactions with the rest of the world.
Philippine monetary officials expect the country’s BOP position to be remain lower than in previous years on account of the policy normalization in the US. (PNA)