The Philippines posted a balance of payments (BOP) deficit of $4.1 billion in January 2025, significantly higher than the $740 million deficit recorded in January 2024, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The January 2025 BOP shortfall reflected the BSP’s net foreign exchange operations and drawdowns by the national government on its foreign currency deposits with the central bank to meet external debt obligations.
As a result, the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) declined to $103.3 billion as of the end of January 2025, down from $106.3 billion at the end of 2024.
Despite the decline, the latest GIR level remains a sufficient external liquidity buffer, covering approximately 7.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments for services and primary income.
The reserves are also about 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity, which includes outstanding external debt with an original maturity of one year or less, as well as principal payments on medium- and long-term loans due within the next 12 months.
The BSP said the current GIR level ensures the availability of foreign exchange to meet BOP financing needs, including import payments and debt servicing, even in extreme scenarios where export earnings and foreign loans are unavailable.
