MANILA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a deficit of 639 million U.S. dollars in April, higher than the 148 million dollars BOP deficit recorded a year ago, the country's central bank said Monday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the BOP deficit in April reflected outflows arising mainly from the national government's net foreign currency withdrawals from the BSP to settle its foreign currency debt obligations and pay for its various expenditures.
The BOP position also reflects a decrease in the final gross international reserves level to 102.6 billion dollars as of end-April from 104.1 billion dollars as of end-March, the BSP added.
The BOP deficit in April brought the current year-to-date BOP level to a 401 million dollars deficit, a reversal from the 3.3 billion dollars surplus recorded in January-April 2023, the BSP said.
Based on preliminary data, the cumulative BOP deficit reflected mainly the national government's repayments of its foreign loans coupled with continued trade in goods deficit, the central bank added. ■