Philippines posts 724 mln USD deficit in October

MANILA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — The Philippines’ overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a deficit of 724 million U.S. dollars in October 2024, a reversal from the 1.5 billion dollar BOP surplus recorded in October 2023, the country’s central bank said Tuesday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the BOP deficit in October this year reflected the national government’s net foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP to settle its foreign currency debt obligations and pay for its various expenditures.
Notwithstanding the deficit in October, the BSP said the cumulative BOP position registered a surplus of 4.4 billion dollars from January to October 2024.
“This is higher than the 3.2 billion dollars surplus recorded in January to October 2023,” said the BSP, adding the surplus reflected in part the continued net inflows from personal remittances, trade in services, and net foreign borrowings by the national government.
According to the BSP, the BOP position reflected a decrease in the final gross international reserves (GIR) level to 111.1 billion dollars by the end of October 2024 from 112.7 billion dollars as of end-September 2024.
The BSP said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to eight months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. Moreover, it is also about 4.4 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity. ■