MANILA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a 2-billion-U.S.-dollar deficit in March 2025, a reversal from the 1.2-billion-dollar surplus recorded in March 2024, the country's central bank said Monday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the March 2025 BOP deficit reflected the national government's drawdowns on its foreign currency deposits with the BSP to meet its external debt obligations and the BSP's net foreign exchange operations.
"This deficit brought the cumulative BOP level to a 3-billion-dollar deficit, marking a reversal from the 238-million-dollar surplus recorded from January to March 2024," the BSP said.
Based on preliminary data, the year-to-date deficit mainly reflected the widening trade deficit in goods.
However, this decline was partly muted by the continued net inflows from personal remittances, foreign direct investments, and foreign borrowings by the national government.
"The BOP position mirrored the decrease in the final gross international reserves (GIR) to 106.7 billion dollars as of end-March 2025, down from 107.4 billion dollars as of end-February 2025," the bank said.
It added that the 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 3.6 times the country's short-term external debt based on residual maturity. ■