BSP POSTS LOWER PROFIT

Gross revenues of the central bank dropped by 17 percent from P86.20 billion to P71.56 billion in the same comparable period

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) posted lower profits as of end-August 2020 following a lower interest income year-on-year.

Preliminary data from the BSP disclosed its net income for the first eight months of 2020 at just P21.77 billion, a 53.92 percent decline from the posted P33.51 billion in the same period year-ago.

Gross revenues of the central bank dropped by 17 percent from

P86.20 billion to P71.56 billion in the same comparable period.

While interest income as of end-August 2020 was P54.23 billion versus the registered P70.34 billion as of end-August 2019.

Miscellaneous income, on the other hand, which includes trading gains or losses of the BSP and other operating income, went up to P17.34 billion compared to only P15.86 billion last year.

Lower expenditures

Meanwhile, total expenditures of the central bank for the first eight months of 2020 was lower by 15 percent with just P46.70 billion versus the listed P54.97 billion in the same period last year.

The lower expenses can be attributed partly to the 2.93 percent decline in interest expenses year-onyear to P28.93 billion from P29.78 billion.

The BSP reported net foreign exchange losses of P2.94 billion for the January to August 2020, a reversal from the P11.03 billion FX gains in the same period year-ago.

The central bank has been reporting lower net income since the start of the year amid the global health crisis, which temporarily suspended some of its open market facilities.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF BSP THE country’s banknotes and coins are mostly produced at the BSP Security Plant Complex (SPC), which has become a world-class producer of quality coins and notes. Over the years, the SPC has overseen the design, production and issuance of four generations of legal tender Philippine currency.