Philippine payments position back to surplus in February 2025

The Philippines' payments position swung to a surplus in February driven by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) foreign investments and the deposits of the government from proceeds from its fundraising efforts, data released by the central bank on Wednesday showed.

The balance of payments (BOP) position stood at a $3.086-billion deficit in February, a reversal of the $4.078-billion deficit in January and the $196-million deficit in February 2023.

The payments position took 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 left.

“The BOP surplus reflected the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which includes proceeds from ROP Global Bonds, and net income from the BSP’s foreign investments,” the central bank said.

The Philippines in January raised $3.29 billion from the sale of US dollar and euro bonds — $2.25 billion from the 10-year bonds and 25-year sustainability bonds, and €1 billion or around $1.04 billion from the seven-year sustainability bond.

This brought the year-to-date BOP position to a $992-million deficit, wider than the $936-million deficit in the comparable period of 2023.

“Based on preliminary data, the year-to-date 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,” the BSP said.

While official figures for February have yet to be released, the latest available data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that the balance of trade in goods posted a $5.088-billion deficit in January, wider than the $4.355-billion deficit the same month last year. 

Cash remittances for the month stood at $2.918 billion.

According to the BSP, the improved BOP position mirrored the increase in the final gross international reserves (GIR) to $107.4 billion as of the end of February.

“This latest 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. Additionally, it covers approximately 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity,” the BSP said. –NB, GMA Integrated News