MANILA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a surplus of 711 million U.S. dollars in October, albeit lower than the 1.1 billion dollars recorded a year earlier, the Philippine central bank said Friday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the BOP surplus in October reduced the cumulative BOP deficit in January-October 2022 to 7.1 billion dollars from a deficit of 7.8 billion dollars in the first three quarters of the year.
"The BOP surplus in October 2022 reflected inflows arising mainly from the national government's net foreign currency deposits with the BSP," the BSP said.
Meanwhile, the current year-to-date BOP level, which is a reversal from the 476 million dollar surplus recorded in the same period a year ago, reflected the widening trade in goods deficit as goods imports continued to surpass goods exports on the back of the ongoing surge in international commodity prices and resumption in domestic economic activities.
The BSP said gross international reserves (GIR) increased to 94 billion dollars in October, adding the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.5 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
Moreover, it added the GIR level is about 6.9 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.1 times based on residual maturity. ■