MANILA, Philippines – The country’s balance of payments swung to a deficit in November, hitting $314 million from a surplus of $837 million in the same period last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported yesterday.
The latest figure was also a turnaround from four consecutive months of surplus, BSP data showed. The country last saw a monthly BOP deficit in June at $24 million.
The BOP is a summary of a country’s transactions with the rest of the world.
In the first 11 months of the year, the country’s BOP position swung to a deficit of $3.722 billion from the $4.666 billion in the same period last year.
This was largely because of a $4.48-billion deficit recorded in January alone on heightened volatility in global financial markets due to the start of the US Federal Reserve’s reduction in its monthly asset purchases.
The BSP expects the country to end the year with a BOP deficit of $3.4 billion.
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BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. last month said the BOP position has been largely affected by the normalization of policy in the US especially as this resulted in a reallocation of assets among markets and economies.
