By Katherine K. Chan, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES’ balance of payments (BoP) surplus widened to over $3 billion in June, which helped significantly narrow the BoP deficit in the primary half of the 12 months, central bank data showed.
Based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data released late on Monday, the country’s BoP position remained at a surfeit for 2 straight months with $3.403 billion in June.
That is the biggest monthly BoP surplus in nearly two years or because the $3.526 billion in September 2024.
It’s also wider than the $226-million surplus a 12 months ago and the $131-million surplus in May.
BoP refers back to the country’s economic transactions with other nations. A deficit shows that the country spent greater than it received, while a surplus indicates more funds entered the country.
“June’s surplus likely got here from a combination of seasonal dollar inflows, government external financing, and valuation gains. It’s a positive signal, but not yet a trend,” SM Investments Corp. Group Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said in a Viber message.
Rizal Business Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the widening surplus was largely driven by the proceeds from the $2.5 billion the federal government raised from its latest triple-tranche dollar bond offering.
Last month, the Treasury said it sold $550 million of the five-and-a-half 12 months bonds, $1.65 billion of the 10-year bonds, and raised $300 million from the present global bonds due in 2051.
June’s surplus brought the Philippines’ BoP deficit to $3.877 billion in the primary half of the 12 months, narrower than the $7.28-billion gap as of May and the $5.588-billion deficit in the identical period last 12 months.
The central bank said the country’s year-to-date BoP position remained at a deficit because it continued to post a trade-in-goods gap and hot money net outflows.
The Philippines has had a monthly trade-in-goods deficit for over a decade, with latest data showing the gap widened by 50.5% 12 months on 12 months to $5.48 billion in May from $3.64 billion.
Meanwhile, the newest BSP data showed the country’s foreign portfolio investments, also referred to as hot money, reversed to a $4.17-billion net outflow as of May from the $1.52-billion net inflow seen a 12 months earlier.
Nevertheless, the BSP noted that this was barely tempered by the “sustained net inflows from personal remittances of overseas Filipinos, foreign borrowings by the NG (National Government), trade in services, and foreign direct investment.”
“The secret is whether exports, remittances, tourism, and investment inflows proceed to carry up, as those will determine how sustainable the external position is,” Mr. Roces said.
The central bank has noted that trade imbalances and tighter financial conditions will proceed to strain the country’s external position until next 12 months.
It expects the BoP deficit to widen to $10.7 billion or -2.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) by end-2026 from $5.7 billion or -1.2% of GDP last 12 months.
THREE-MONTH HIGH GIR
However, the Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) reached $104.745 billion in the primary half of 2026, based on revised BSP data.
This marks the very best dollar reserves held by the central bank in three months or since $106.636 billion as of the primary quarter.
The most recent GIR level edged up by 0.73% from the $103.988 billion as of May but fell annually for a 3rd consecutive month by 1.18% from $105.998 billion within the previous 12 months.
The rise was driven by the NG’s net foreign currency deposits with the central bank and the BSP’s net earnings from its foreign investments.
Nevertheless, the BSP also noted that these were tempered by “downward valuation adjustments, primarily driven by changes in prices of the BSP’s gold holdings and foreign currency-denominated reserve assets, and NG’s drawdowns on its foreign currency deposits with the BSP for external debt service.”
Dollar reserves are the central bank’s foreign assets held mostly as investments in foreign-issued securities, foreign exchange, and monetary gold, amongst others.
These are supplemented by claims to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the shape of reserve position within the fund and special drawing rights (SDRs).
The central bank’s gold holdings jumped by 24.58% to $17.194 billion at end-June from $13.802 billion last 12 months but dropped by 11.74% from $19.48 billion a month ago.
Meanwhile, the country’s reserve position within the IMF amounted to $724.6 million, down 1.06% from $732.4 million within the previous 12 months but 1.46% higher than end-May’s $712.2 million.
SDRs — or the quantity the Philippines can tap from the IMF’s reserve currency basket — also declined by 0.75% to $3.915 billion from $3.945 billion a 12 months ago and by 0.93% from $3.951 billion within the prior month.
The central bank’s foreign currency and deposits plunged by 48.35% to $2.298 billion in the primary half from $4.449 billion within the comparable year-ago period. Nevertheless, it greater than doubled (176.29%) from $831.7 million as of May.
BSP data also showed its securities were valued at $72.037 billion throughout the period, slipping by 5.73% from $76.413 billion last 12 months and by 0.98% from $72.75 billion a month earlier.
However, its other reserves rose by 28.97% annually to $8.587 billion from $6.658 billion and by 37.13% month on month from $6.262 billion.
The BSP said the country’s end-June GIR level stays adequate, covering about 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
It also translates to six.8 months’ price of imports of products and payments of services and first income, still above the three-month standard.
“These provide sufficient foreign currency to satisfy the country’s import needs and repair its external debt obligations and function a buffer against external economic shocks,” the central bank said.
GIR allows a rustic to finance imports and foreign debts, maintain the soundness of its currency, and safeguard itself against global economic disruptions.
The BSP sees its foreign reserves settling at $104 billion this 12 months, lower than the $110.8 billion it held in 2025.