The overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a deficit of $415 million in April, a reversal from the $2.61 billion surplus recorded in the same month last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday.

The BOP deficit in April reflected outflows mainly from the National Government’s foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP as it settled its foreign currency debt obligations and paid for various expenditures.

Notwithstanding the deficit in April, the cumulative BOP position registered a surplus of $79 million in the January to April period. This level is a reversal from the $231 million deficit recorded in the same period a year ago.

Based on preliminary data, the cumulative BOP surplus reflected inflows that stemmed mainly from personal remittances, net foreign borrowings by the national government, and foreign direct investments.

Gross international reserves (GIR) level declined to $105.4 billion as of end-April from $107.31 billion as of end-March.

The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 9.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

It is also about 6.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.5 times based on residual maturity. BSP