BOP surplus jumps to $4.08 billion in 11 months

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s balance of payments (BOP) surplus jumped 11-fold in the first 11 months due to higher government borrowings, strong foreign portfolio investment inflows and robust remittances from overseas Filipinos.

Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the country booked a BOP surplus of $4.08 billion from January to November this year or $3.716 billion higher than the $364-million surplus registered in the same period last year.

The BOP refers to the difference between the inflows and outflows of foreign exchange.

For the month of November alone, the country’s BOP position registered a deficit of $93 million a complete reversal of the $19-million surplus booked in the same month last year.

The deficit was registered on the back of strong outflows brought about by the payment of maturing obligations of the government and the central bank.

A $150-million loan was also disbursed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the governance in Justice Sector Reform Program.

The central bank now sees the BOP posting a surplus of $4 billion to $5 billion this year and a surplus of $3 billion to $4 billion next year.

Monetary authorities said strong overseas Fili-pino workers’ (OFW) remittances, robust portfolio investments, and loan proceeds from foreign commercial borrowings of the government continued to boost the country’s BOP position.

The National Government, which is in dire need of funds to finance its swelling budget deficit, borrowed $3.25 billion through the issuance of foreign-denominated bonds in the international capital market. The amount was higher than the $2 billion borrowed by the government last year.

The Philippines is staring at a record budget deficit this year due to weak tax take brought about by the global economic slump as well as accelerated spending with the implementation of the P330-billion Economic Resiliency Plan.

The government expects to book an all-time high budget deficit of P250 billion or 3.2 percent