The Philippines’ balance of payments (BOP) position posted a $3.1 billion surplus in February this year, rebounding from the $4.08 billion deficit seen a month ago.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), it also marks a sharp rebound from the $196 million deficit recorded in February last year.

However, this surplus was insufficient to push the end-February BOP position into a surplus. It only narrowed the cumulative BOP deficit to $992 million, which is still higher than the $936 million deficit recorded at end-February 2024.

The country’s year-to-date BOP deficit was mainly driven by the widening trade gap and net outflows from foreign portfolio investments.

However, this was partially offset by net inflows from the national government’s foreign borrowings and personal remittances, based on the BSP’s preliminary data.

“The BOP surplus reflected the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the BSP, which include proceeds from ROP global bonds, and net income from the BSP’s foreign investments,” the central bank said in a statement released Wednesday, March 19.

As per the BSP, the country’s improved BOP position reflects its gross international reserves (GIR), which climbed to $107.4 billion by end-February 2025, up from $103.3 billion in January.

The higher GIR level strengthens the country’s external liquidity, enough to cover 7.4 months of imports and service payments.

“Additionally, it covers approximately 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt,” the central bank said.

The Philippines closed 2024 with a $609 million surplus, significantly lower than the $3.7 billion in 2023, due to a larger current account deficit. This was a nearly 84 percent drop year-on-year, shrinking by $3.1 billion.

Meanwhile, the country’s GIR stood at $106.3 billion by end-2024, up from $103.8 billion in 2023.