The Philippines’ balance of payments (BOP) shifted to a $167-million deficit in July 2025 from a $62-million surplus a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Tuesday.
The BSP attributed this deficit to reductions in the national government’s (NG) foreign currency deposits with the central bank to service external debt obligations.
The July BOP also widened the seven-month deficit to $5.8 billion. It marked reversal from the $1.5-billion surplus recorded in 2024.
Preliminary data from the BSP showed that the seven-month BOP deficit was largely due to the continued trade-in-goods deficit.
The trade deficit in the first six months of 2025 settled at $24.0 billion, based on preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“This was partly offset by the sustained net inflows from personal remittances from overseas Filipinos, foreign borrowings by the NG, and foreign portfolio investments,” said the BSP.
The BOP position also mirrored a decline in gross international reserves (GIR) to $105.4 billion as of end-July 2025 from $106.0 billion as of end-June.
The BSP said the latest GIR level remained an adequate liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.2 months’ worth of imports of goods, service payments and primary income.
The BSP said 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.
The bank said it also covers about 3.4 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.
 recorded a $167 million deficit in July 2025, a sharp reversal from last year's surplus, driven by government debt payments and a persistent trade deficit.%%excerpt%%){kind=link}