BOP surplus at $3.1-B in February

The Philippines’ balance of payments (BOP) swung to a surplus of $3.1 billion in February 2025, marking its highest level in five months, according to data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently.

This surplus marks a sharp turnaround from the $196 million deficit recorded in the same month last year and is the biggest since the $3.52 billion surplus in September 2024.

According to the BSP, the surplus stemmed from the national government’s net foreign currency deposits, including proceeds from the Republic of the Philippines (ROP) Global Bonds, and income from the central bank’s foreign investments.

Despite the February surplus, the overall BOP position at the end of the first two months of 2025 still showed a deficit of $992 million.

The BOP reflects a country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world over a specific period. It can be in surplus, deficit, or balanced depending on the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.

The BSP attributed the improved BOP position in February to the increase in the country’s gross international reserves (GIR), which climbed to $107.4 billion from $103.3 billion in January.

This level of reserves is sufficient to cover 7.4 months’ worth of imports and service payments and is about 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

Reyes Tacandong & Co. senior adviser Jonathan Ravelas noted the significance of this turnaround, describing the $3.1-billion surplus as a strong indicator of economic improvement compared to the deficit a year earlier.

However, he cautioned that the overall deficit in the first two months of 2025 signals persistent economic challenges.

“This mixed result highlights the importance of maintaining a balanced approach to economic policies to sustain positive trends while mitigating deficits,” he said.