The overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a deficit of $4.1 billion in January 2025, higher than the $740 million BOP deficit in January 2024.

The deficit reflected the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) net foreign exchange operations and drawdowns by the national government (NG) on its foreign currency deposits with the BSP to meet its external debt obligations.

The BOP position reflects a decrease in the final gross international reserves (GIR) level to $103.3 billion as of end-January 2025 from $106.3 billion as of end-2024.

The latest GIR level represents 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. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas