BSP posts double-digit drop in first-half net income 

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recorded a lower net income in the first half of the year as expenses and revenues went up compared with a year ago.

Preliminary data posted on the BSP’s website showed the central bank’s net income fell by 63.6% to PHP 19.86 billion in the January-to-June period from PHP 54.62 billion in the same period last year.

The BSP’s expenses surged by 78.3% to PHP 102.58 billion from PHP 57.53 billion a year ago. Interest expenses more than doubled (171%) to PHP 80.15 billion, while other central bank expenses went down by 19.9% to PHP 22.43 billion.

Revenues edged higher by 6.7% to PHP 90.63 billion in the first semester from PHP 84.96 billion in the comparable year-ago period. Interest income rose by 31.7% to PHP 93.41 billion.

However, the central bank posted a PHP 2.78-billion loss from miscellaneous sources, which include trading gains, fees, and penalties. This is a reversal of the PHP 4.07-billion gain a year earlier.

Still, the central bank swung to a net income in the second quarter after posting a net loss of PHP 1.4 billion in the first quarter of the year.

The BSP’s net gains from foreign exchange (FX) rate fluctuations in the first half of the year reached PHP 31.81 billion, 16.9% higher than the PHP 27.21 billion seen in the comparable period in 2022.

According to the BSP, these are realized gains from fluctuations in FX rates arising from its foreign currency-denominated transactions.

The BSP’s assets hit PHP 7.294 trillion as of end-June, decreasing by 2.1% from the PHP 7.449 trillion a year earlier. Total liabilities inched down by 3.3% to PHP 7.127 trillion as of June from PHP 7.373 trillion in the previous year.

With this, the BSP’s net worth climbed by 119% to PHP 167.34 billion at end-June, more than double from PHP 76.36 billion a year ago. — Keisha B. Ta-asan