MANILA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' balance of payments (BOP), which accounts for the transactions of the country with the rest of the world, registered a surplus of 359 million U.S. dollars in August 2025, higher than the 88 million dollars recorded in August 2024, the Philippine central bank said.
In a statement issued Friday night, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the surplus reflected income from its investments abroad and helped narrow the year-to-date deficit to 5.4 billion dollars from 5.8 billion in January-July.
The deficit was mainly due to the trade in goods gap, partly offset by remittances, foreign borrowings, investments, and services trade, the BSP added.
According to the BSP, the BOP position mirrored the increase in the gross international reserves (GIR), which rose from 105.4 billion dollars as of end-July 2025 to 107.1 billion dollars as of end-August 2025.
The BSP said the level of GIR remains an adequate external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.2 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
Moreover, it covers about 3.7 times the country's short-term external debt based on residual maturity. ■
