By Lee C. Chipongian

Higher interest income continues to push the central bank bottomline, or net income, to P29.45 billion as of end-June this year, up 349.6 percent from same time in 2017 of P6.55 billion.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show that in the first six months, foreign exchange (FX) gains from FX rate fluctuations surged to P21.51 billion from P9.31 billion.

Revenues were up 13.6 percent year-on-year to P37.08 billion mainly due to the increase in interest income on international reserves and domestic securities.

Expenses during the period declined by 17.7 percent to P29.12 billion because of lower interest expenses and taxes and licenses.

From January to June, the BSP reported total assets of P4.726 trillion and these are mostly international reserves. It is slightly more than same time last year by 1.34 percent.

Total liabilities also increased a bit or by 0.38 percent to P4.616 trillion. These are deposits and currency issues.

The BSP’s net worth was at P110.47 billion as of end-June, more than the P65.74 billion reported last year.

Under its charter, the BSP has to remit 75 percent of its net income to the National Government.