Philippines BOP swings to $3.1B surplus in Feb, GIR up to $107.4B

The Philippines' balance of payments (BOP) swung to a surplus of $3.1 billion in February 2025, reversing the $196 million deficit recorded in February 2024 and marking the highest surplus since September 2024.

This turnaround reflects net foreign currency deposits by the national government with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and proceeds from Republic of the Philippines Global Bonds issued earlier this year, as well as net receipts from foreign borrowings and personal remittances.

Despite this improvement, the year-to-date BOP position remained at a $992 million deficit due to factors such as trade in goods deficits and net outflows from foreign portfolio investments.

The country's gross international reserves (GIR) increased to $107.4 billion by end-February 2025, up from $103.3 billion in January, providing a robust external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.4 months' worth of imports and services payments.

This higher GIR level also covers approximately 3.8 times the country's short-term external debt, according to the BSP.