BSP profit more than doubles to P170.2 billion

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) more than doubled its net income to P170.2 billion in the first seven months of 2026 as foreign exchange gains surged and interest expenses declined.

Preliminary and unaudited BSP financial statements showed that net income, or earnings remaining after expenses and taxes, rose by 114.9 percent from P79.2 billion in the same period last year.

The seven-month profit already exceeded the central bank’s P124.6-billion earnings for the whole of 2025 by 36.6 percent.

The increase was driven largely by net gains from foreign exchange rate fluctuations, which nearly tripled to P102 billion from P37 billion a year earlier. These are realized gains from transactions involving foreign currencies as exchange rates change.

These gains are recorded separately from revenues and accounted for about 60 percent of the central bank’s net income during the seven-month period.

Lower expenses also supported profitability. Total expenses fell by 18.8 percent to P98.6 billion from P121.5 billion as a sharp drop in interest costs more than offset an increase in other expenses.

Interest expenses declined by 42.4 percent to P47 billion from P81.6 billion. Other expenses, meanwhile, rose by 29.3 percent to P51.6 billion from P39.9 billion.

Revenues increased by 1.9 percent to P166.8 billion from P163.8 billion. Interest income, which made up about 90 percent of revenues, climbed by 6.1 percent to P150.7 billion from P142 billion.

However, miscellaneous income declined by 25.8 percent to P16.1 billion from P21.7 billion, partly offsetting the increase in interest earnings. This category includes trading gains, fees, penalties and other operating income.

With revenues rising and overall expenses falling, income before foreign exchange gains, income taxes and capital reserves increased by 61.2 percent to P68.2 billion from P42.3 billion.

The latest results followed a 6.8-percent increase in annual net income to P124.6 billion in 2025 from P116.7 billion in 2024.