PH payments position hits widest deficit in over 2 years

The Philippine balance of payments (BOP) position continued to post a deficit in November to mark the widest in over two years, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday showed.

The BOP position stood at a $2.276-billion deficit in November, wider than the $724-million deficit in the previous month, and the $216-million deficit in November 2023. This is also the widest in over two years since September 2022’s $2.338-billion deficit.

The payments position takes into account Philippine transactions with the rest of the world during a specific period. A surplus means more funds entered the country, while a deficit means more funds exited.

“The BOP deficit in November 2024 reflected the national government’s net foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP to settle its foreign currency debt obligations and pay for its various expenditures, and the BSP’s net foreign exchange operations,” the BSP said in an emailed statement.

Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the government’s total outstanding debt stood at P16.020 trillion as of end-October, 0.8% or P126.95 billion higher than the P15.893-trillion balance as of end-September.

This brought the year-to-date position to a $2.1-billion surplus, lower than the $3.030-billion surplus in November 2023.

“Based on preliminary data, the decline in the cumulative BOP surplus was due to lower net receipts from trade in services and net foreign borrowings by the national government,” the BSP said.

“However, this decline was partly muted by the continued net inflows from personal remittances as well as net foreign portfolio and direct investments,” it added.

The latest BOP position reflects a decrease in the gross international reserves (GIR) level to $108.5 billion, down from $111.1 billion as of end-October.

“The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer,” it added, noting that this is equivalent to 7.7 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, and about 4.3 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.—AOL, GMA Integrated News