The country’s overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a surplus of US$642 million in December 2023, higher than the US$612 million BOP surplus recorded in the same month last year. The BOP surplus in December 2023 reflected inflows arising mainly from the National Government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), net income from the BSP’s investments abroad, and the BSP’s net foreign exchange operations. Meanwhile, the BOP surplus in December brought the full-year 2023 BOP level to US$3.7 billion surplus, a reversal from the US$7.3 billion deficit recorded in the same period a year ago. [1]The gross international reserves (GIR) level increased to US$103.8 billion as of end-December 2023 from US$102.7 billion as of end-November 2023. [2]Moreover, it is also about 6.0 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity.

Source: The Guardian January 19, 2024 22:35 UTC