BSP says it incurred P80B in forex losses in Jan.-Nov.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday said it booked P80.3 billion in foreign exchange losses during the first 11 months of 2010 as the peso rose against the US dollar. This was almost 12 times over the P6.88 billion in foreign exchange losses the central bank incurred in January-November 2009, the central bank said in a statement. Its foreign exchange losses had an impact on its income during the same 11-month period, giving the BSP a net loss of P48.25 billion from a P10.26-billion net income in the first 11 months of 2009, the central bank said. Its revenues rose 17.1 percent to P106.7 billion from P91.1 billion in the same comparable period, helped by miscellaneous income. Its expenses rose to P74.64 billion from P73.95 billion, mainly on interest expenses, the BSP said. — VS, GMA News