The country’s balance of payments (BOP) deficit narrowed in February 2024 on lower government foreign debt payments, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday.
Data from the BSP showed that the country recorded a BOP deficit of $196 million in February, lower than the $895-million shortfall in February 2023.
“The BOP deficit in February 2024 reflected outflows arising mainly from the national government’s (NG) payments of its foreign currency debt obligations,” the BSP said in a statement.
The latest figure brought the two-month BOP level to $936-million deficit, which was a reversal from the $2.2-billion surplus recorded a year ago.
“Based on preliminary data, this cumulative BOP deficit reflected mainly the continued trade in goods deficit coupled with the NG’s net repayments of its foreign loans,” the BSP said.
The BSP earlier said the BOP was expected to post a $700-million surplus this year, up from the earlier estimate of $400 million.
It said the overall BOP position in 2024 was projected to settle at a slightly higher surplus relative to the previous forecast, on the back of the estimated narrower current account gap for the year and modest inflows of non-resident investments.
The BSP said the BOP position reflects a decrease in the final gross international reserves (GIR) level to $102.0 billion as of end-February 2024 from $103.3 billion as of end-January 2024.
It said despite the decline, the latest GIR level represented a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.5 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
It was also about six times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.6 times based on residual maturity.