The BSP said the current account reversed to a deficit of US$1.2 billion from a US$5.1 billion surplus in Q2 2020. In particular, the merchandise trade deficit widened due to the sustained growth in imports, following the gradual resumption of domestic economic activities.
THE country’s balance of payments (BOP) posted a surplus of US$905 million in the second quarter (Q2) of 2021, lower by 78.3 percent than the US$4.2 billion surplus in the same quarter last year, the Bangko Sentral reported Sunday.
This was due to the reversal of the current account to a deficit in the second quarter of 2021 from a surplus during the same period in 2020.
“The current account reversed to a deficit of US$1.2 billion from a US$5.1 billion surplus in Q2 2020. In particular, the merchandise trade deficit widened due to the sustained growth in imports, following the gradual resumption of domestic economic activities,” BSP said in a statement.
Net receipts in the capital account grew by 49.8 percent to US$20 million in Q2 2021 from US$13 million in second quarter of 2020 due to the decline in net payments for non-produced nonfinancial assets (e.g., patents, trademarks, and copyrights).
Net inflows in the financial account rose substantially by 565.9 percent to US$2.9 billion from US$442 million last year.
The increase in net inflows was due mainly to the reversal of the portfolio (due, in turn, to non-residents’ investments in government bond issues) and other investment accounts to net inflows and the increase in net inflows of direct investments.
The overall BOP position reversed to a deficit of US$1.9 billion in the first half of 2021 from a US$4.1 billion surplus in the same period last year.
The current account reversed from a surplus of US$4.8 billion in the first half of 2020 to a deficit of US$1.2 billion in the first half of 2021.
The merchandise trade deficit widened further to US$22.5 billion from US$15.3 billion last year as the growth in imports (by 31.6 percent to US$49.3 billion) outpaced that of exports (by 21.3 percent to US$26.8 billion).
Meanwhile, net receipts of primary income declined by 12.4 percent to settle at US$1.7 billion.
Net receipts in the capital account rose by 41.1 percent to US$37 million in the first half of 2021 from US$26 million last year due mainly to the decline in net payments for non-produced nonfinancial assets.
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