MANILA, Sept 20 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ overall balance of payments (BOP) position, posted a 572-million U.S. dollar-deficit in Aug, a reversal from the 1.04 billion dollar BOP surplus recorded a year earlier, the Philippine central bank said, yesterday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), said, the BOP deficit in Aug reflected outflows arising mainly from the national government’s foreign currency withdrawals, from its deposits with the BSP, to settle its foreign currency debt obligations and pay for its various expenditures.
The Aug BOP deficit brought the cumulative BOP level for Jan to Aug this year to a 5.5-billion- dollar deficit, higher than the 253-million-dollar deficit, recorded in the same period last year.
According to the BSP, the gross international reserves level declined to 97.4 billion dollars, as of end-Aug.– NNN-PNA
