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The widening of the trade gap caused the country’s current account deficit (CAD) to more than double in the Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
In July to September, the CAD jumped 154.4 percent to $5.7 billion from the $2.2- billion deficit posted in the third quarter of last year.
The BSP said the CAD was equivalent to -5.2 percent of the country’s GDP in the third quarter of 2024 while it was -2.2 percent of the country’s GDP in the same period last year.
“This turnout was driven by the wider trade in goods gap and lower net receipts in trade in services and primary income accounts. This was partly muted by the higher net receipts in the secondary income account,” the BSP said.
As a result, the CAD expanded 19.3 percent to reach $12.9 billion in the nine-month period this year from the $10.8-billion deficit posted in the same period last year.
The BSP said the CAD in January to September 2024 was equivalent to -3.9 percent of the country’s GDP, larger than the -3.5 percent of GDP recorded in January to September 2023.
“The higher current account deficit emanated from the lower net receipts in trade in services. However, this was offset partly by the narrowing goods trade deficit and higher net receipts in the primary and secondary income accounts,” BSP said.
Meanwhile, BSP data showed the country’s balance of payments (BOP) position recorded a surplus of $3.7 billion in the third quarter 2024.
This represented a turnaround from a deficit of $524 million in the third quarter of 2023.
“The significant increase in net inflows in the financial account led to a reversal to BOP surplus, notwithstanding a wider deficit in the current account,” BSP said.
The data also showed that the country’s BOP was also in surplus of $5.1 billion in January to September 2024.
This was “markedly higher” compared to the $1.7-billion surplus recorded in January to September 2023.
The BSP said the BOP surplus reflected mainly the significantly higher net inflows from the financial account.
Given this, the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) amounted to $112.7 billion as of end-September 2024.
This is higher than the $98.1 billion registered as of end-September 2023.
In July to September 2024, the peso averaged at P57.25 to the US dollar, appreciating by a percent from an average of P57.8 to the greenback in the second quarter of 2024.
However, the peso depreciated year-on-year by 2.3 percent from an average of P55.96 to the US dollar in the same period in 2023.
For January to September 2024, the peso averaged at P57 to the US dollar, depreciating by 2.7 percent from an average of P55.49 to the greenback in January to September 2023.