The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Philippines’ balance of payments (BOP), which accounts for the transactions of the country with the rest of the world, registered a surplus of US$359 million in August 2025. This is higher than the US$88 million surplus recorded in August 2024.
The BOP surplus reflected the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) net income from its investments abroad.
This surplus helped narrow the year-to-date deficit, reducing it from US$5.8 billion in January–July 2025 to US$5.4 billion in January–August 2025.
Preliminary data indicate that the year-to-date BOP deficit was largely due to the continued trade in goods deficit. This was partly offset by the sustained net inflows from personal remittances from overseas Filipinos, foreign borrowings by the national government (NG), foreign direct and portfolio investments, and trade in services.
The BOP position mirrored the increase in the gross international reserves (GIR), which rose from US$105.4 billion as of end-July 2025 to US$107.1 billion as of end-August 2025.
The level of GIR remains an adequate external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.2 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
Moreover, it covers about 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debtbased on residual maturity.
GIR are made up of foreign-denominated securities, foreign exchange, and other assets including gold. GIR help a country finance its imports and foreign debt obligations, stabilize its currency, and provide a buffer against external economic shocks.