The deficit on the country’s balance of payments (BOP) increased to $7.263 billion last year.
This reverses the $1.345 billion surplus in 2021, partly due to the higher imports compared to exports ushered by the opening of the economy.
However, the deficit was lower than the expected $11.2-billion as earlier said by the central bank. The BOP summarizes the economic transactions of a country with the rest of the world for a specific period.
The widening in trade in goods deficit caused the cumulative BOP shortfall.
“Goods imports continued to surpass goods exports on the back of the increase in international commodity prices and resumption in domestic economic activities,” said the BSP.
The trade deficit in 2022 increased to $53.7 billion compared to $37.1 billion deficit in 2021 according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Meanwhile, the BSP is projecting a $5.4 billion BOP deficit in 2023.
