THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) net income grew by more than five times to P113.1 billion in the first 10 months of 2024 as its revenues surged amid higher interest earnings.
The central bank’s net profit surged to P113.1 billion in the January-October period from P21.6 billion a year prior, preliminary data posted on its website showed.
Broken down, the BSP’s revenues jumped by 49.5% year on year to P264.1 billion from P176.6 billion.
Interest income, which accounted for the bulk or 76% of the central bank’s revenues, climbed by 23.1% to P200.7 billion from P163 billion a year prior.
Miscellaneous income, which includes fees, penalties and other operating income, increased by 366.2% to P63.4 billion from P13.6 billion.
Meanwhile, the central bank’s expenses declined by 11.5% to P182.3 billion in the 10-month period from P206 billion in the previous year, according to the data.
This came as other expenses, which include net trading losses, fell by 37.1% to P42.3 billion from P67.2 billion.
On the other hand, its interest expenses inched up by 0.9% to P140 billion in the period from P138.8 billion a year prior.
This brought the BSP’s net income before foreign exchange (FX) gains, tax and capital reserves to P81.8 billion in the January-October period, a turnaround from the P29.4-billion loss in the prior year.
The central bank also posted a P31.4-billion net FX gain from its foreign currency-denominated transactions, which boosted its bottom line for the first 10 months of 2024.
Meanwhile, separate BSP data showed that the regulator’s total assets stood at P8.19 trillion at end-October 2024. This was 9.5% higher than the P7.48 trillion in the same period the year prior.
On the other hand, the central bank’s liabilities increased by 7.6% to P7.93 trillion in the same period from P7.36 trillion.
BSP data showed that currency in circulation stood at P2.38 trillion, while deposits with the central bank were at P2.71 trillion.
The BSP’s net worth rose to P266.2 billion at end-October from P119.8 billion from a year prior.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the increase in the central bank’s January-October net income came amid the elevated interest rate environment.
“This could be brought about by higher interest income in most of 2024 and other investment income amid rate cuts that started in the latter part of 2024, though offset by some market volatility amid the Trump factor that emerged starting around October,” he said.
The BSP began its easing cycle in August last year, cutting by a total of 75 basis points thus far to bring its policy rate to 5.75%.
The increase was “also partly due to some forex gains amid the higher US dollar in 2024 amid US dollar holdings with higher value when converted to pesos,” Mr. Ricafort added.
The peso closed at P58.10 per dollar at end-October 2024, weakening from its P56.73 finish a year prior.
The local unit mostly traded at the P55 to P58 level in the first 10 months of 2024. In the same period in 2023, it ranged from P54 to P56. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
