In April, the balance of payments (BOP) position posted a deficit of $2.6 billion, higher than the $639 million BOP deficit recorded in the same period last year.

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

This deficit brought the cumulative BOP level to a $5.5 billion deficit, higher than the $401 million deficit recorded from January to April 2024.

Based on preliminary data, this year-to-date BOP deficit reflected mainly the widening trade in goods deficit. This decline was partly muted, however, by the continued net inflows from personal remittances from overseas Filipinos and foreign borrowings by the NG.

The BOP position mirrored the decrease in the final gross international reserves (GIR) to $105.3 billion as of end-April 2025, down from $106.7 billion as of end-March 2025.

This latest GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.3 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. Additionally, it covers approximately 3.7 times the country's short-term external debt based on residual maturity. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas