THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the country’s balance of payments (BOP) position recorded a deficit in March, but the gross international reserves (GIR) remain healthy.
In a report Monday, April 20, 2026, the BSP said the country’s BOP registered a deficit of US$2.6 billion.
This brought the year-to-date deficit to $5.3 billion.
The BOP summarizes a country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world for a specific period.
The overall position can be in surplus, deficit, or balance.
The BOP position mirrored the slight drop in the country’s GIR, which decreased to $106.6 billion in March from $113.3 billion in February.
The BSP said this level of reserves remains an adequate external liquidity buffer, equivalent to seven months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
It covers about 3.9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
GIR are made up of foreign-denominated securities, foreign exchange and other assets, including gold, which help ensure sufficient dollar liquidity to meet the country’s import needs and foreign debt obligations, address currency volatility, and provide a buffer against external economic shocks.
GIR is viewed to be adequate if it can finance at least three months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. / PNA
