BOP at a surplus of $864M in Jan.

The country registered a balance of payments (BOP) surplus in January as the inflow of dollars and other foreign currencies exceeded those that had flowed out, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported.

According to the central bank’s data, the BOP surplus amounted to $864 million—the highest in five months—as the Philippines continued to enjoy inflows from the usual sources of foreign currencies, such as remittances and portfolio investments.

But the surplus was lower by 46 percent than the $1.61 billion registered in the same month the previous year. Monetary officials explained that in the first month of 2012 the Philippines had to settle a greater amount of liabilities denominated in foreign currencies, such as import and debt payments, compared with that of the previous year.

BOP is the difference between the amounts of foreign cash flowing in and out of a country. It serves as a record of one’s country’s commercial transactions with the rest of the world.

A surplus in the BOP will boost a country’s overall reserves of foreign exchange. A country’s ability to meet its foreign obligations may be determined through its level of reserves.