THE Philippines’ balance of payments (BoP) surplus hit an 11-month high in December, boosting the full-year 2019 tally to reach its highest in seven years. It was also the largest since January 2019, when the payments position stood at a surplus of $2.70 billion. This resulted in a full-year 2019 payments balance surplus of $7.84 billion, a reversal of the $2.30 billion recorded in 2018. It also surpassed the central bank’s $4.8-billion surplus forecast for 2019, and was also the highest since the $9.23 billion surplus in 2012. Foreign investment portfolios, on the other hand, registered a net outflow of $1.90 billion in full-year 2019.

Source: Manila Times January 20, 2020 17:08 UTC