Philippines posts 4.1 bln USD deficit in January

Manila: The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a deficit of 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in January 2025, higher than the 740 million dollars recorded in the same period last year, the country's central bank said Wednesday night.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the January 2025 BOP deficit reflected the BSP's net foreign exchange operations and drawdowns by the national government on its foreign currency deposits with the BSP to meet its external debt obligations.

According to the BSP, the BOP position reflects a decrease in the final gross international reserves (GIR) level to 103.3 billion dollars as of end-January 2025 from 106.3 billion dollars recorded by the end of 2024.

The BSP said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.3 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. Moreover, it is also about 3.7 times the country's short-term external debt based on residual maturity.