The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that the Philippines continued to post a balance of payments (BOP) deficit in April 2025, though the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) remain at a healthy level.
In a statement released Monday, the BSP said the BOP recorded a $2.6-billion deficit for the month. This was mainly due to the national government’s withdrawals from its foreign currency deposits with the central bank to service external debt and fund various expenditures, as well as the BSP’s own foreign exchange operations.
The BOP reflects a country’s transactions with the rest of the world over a certain period. It can be in surplus, deficit, or balanced, depending on the inflow and outflow of funds.
April’s deficit pushed the cumulative BOP shortfall for the first four months of the year to $5.5 billion, mainly driven by a widening trade gap.
However, the BSP noted that the impact of the deficit was partially offset by continued net inflows from overseas Filipino workers’ personal remittances and foreign borrowings by the national government.
The BOP deficit also corresponded with a decline in the country’s GIR, which stood at $105.3 billion as of end-April—down from $106.7 billion at the end of March.
Despite the drop, the BSP said the GIR level remains a strong buffer, equivalent to 7.3 months’ worth of imports and payments for services and primary income. It also covers around 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
Generally, GIR is considered adequate if it can cover at least three months’ worth of imports and external payments.