Central Bank of the Philippines reports February 2025 balance of payments surplus of USD 3.1 billion and gross international reserves up to USD 107.4 billion

The Central Bank of the Philippines published balance of payments (BOP) data showing a return to a USD 3.1 billion surplus in February 2025, reversing the USD 196 million deficit recorded in February 2024. Despite the monthly surplus, the cumulative BOP position stood at a USD 992 million deficit as of February 2025, slightly wider than the USD 936 million deficit reported a year earlier. The February surplus reflected the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (including proceeds from Republic of the Philippines Global Bonds) and net income from the central bank’s foreign investments. The year-to-date deficit was attributed mainly to a wider trade in goods deficit and net outflows from foreign portfolio investments, partly offset by net receipts from national government foreign borrowings and personal remittances; preliminary Philippine Statistics Authority data put the January 2025 trade deficit at USD 5.1 billion (January 2024: USD 4.4 billion). Gross international reserves rose to USD 107.4 billion at end-February 2025 from USD 103.3 billion at end-January, equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, and around 3.8 times short-term external debt on a residual maturity basis.