MANILA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a 196-million-U.S. dollar deficit in February, significantly lower from the 895-million-dollar BOP deficit recorded a year ago, the country's central bank said on Tuesday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the BOP deficit in February reflected outflows arising mainly from the national government's foreign currency debt and obligations payments.
The BOP deficit also resulted in a decrease in the final gross international reserves level to 102 billion dollars as of end-February, from 103.3 billion dollars as of end-January, the BSP added.
The BOP deficit in February brought the current year-to-date BOP level to a 936-million-dollar deficit, a reversal from the 2.2-billion-dollar surplus recorded in January-February 2023, the BSP said.
Based on preliminary data, the cumulative BOP deficit mainly reflected the continued trade-in goods deficit and the national government's net repayments of its foreign loans, the central bank added.
