Balance of payments posts $336 M deficit in March

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Balance of payments (BOP) posted a deficit of $336 million in March, according to official data today.

Data from the central bank showed that the BOP in March was a reversal of the $345 million surplus recorded in February and the $452 million surplus recorded in March 2013.

The central bank said the BOP swung to a deficit in March due to foreign currency debt repayments of the national government and the bank's foreign exchange operations.

For the January to March period, the country's BOP recorded a deficit of $4.47 billion, a reversal of the $1.53 billion surplus posted in the same period last year.

The Philippine central bank said the cumulative deficit for the first quarter was due mainly to net outflows in foreign portfolio investments in reaction to uncertainty over the pace of the US Federal Reserve's bond-buying program.

In January, the US Fed scaled back its monthly bond-buying program following positive US economic data. This caused volatility in global financial markets.

The local central bank expects the BOP position in 2014 to settle at a surplus of $3 billion, lower than the $5.08 billion surplus recorded last year.