The Philippines’ balance of payments (BOP) recorded a $3.1-billion surplus in February 2025, a turnaround from the $196-million deficit in the same month last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday.
The BOP surplus reflected the national government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits with the BSP, which include proceeds from ROP Global Bonds and net income from the BSP’s foreign investments.
Data showed that the February surplus led to a cumulative BOP deficit of $992 million as of February 2025, slightly higher than the $936-million deficit reported a year ago.
The two-month deficit reflected mainly the widening trade in goods deficit and net outflows from foreign portfolio investments, but was partially offset by net receipts from foreign borrowings by the NG and personal remittances.
Based on the preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS), the trade deficit in January 2025 reached $5.1 billion, up from $4.4 billion seen in January 2024.
The improved BOP position mirrored the increase in the final gross international reserves (GIR) to $107.4 billion as of end-February 2025, up from $103.3 billion at the end of January 2025.
The GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
The latest GIR level ensures availability of foreign exchange to meet balance of payments financing needs such as for payment of imports and debt service, in extreme conditions when there are no export earnings or foreign loans.
It also covers about 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
Short-term debt based on residual maturity refers to outstanding external debt with original maturity of one year or less, plus principal payments on medium- and long-term loans of the public and private sectors falling due within the next 12 months.