US dollar inflows to the Philippines improved, resulting in a $706 million surplus in the country’s balance of payments (BOP) in October 2025, up from $82 million in the previous month.

Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the surplus in the BOP, which is the difference between a country's total external payments and total inflows in a given period, last October alone lowered the deficit in the first 10 months this year to $4.6 billion.

BSP traced the improvement in the country’s BOP position to the rise in gross international reserves (GIR) to $110.2 billion as of last October, which, it said, is equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

Based on international standards, a country has a healthy BOP position if it has about three to four months' worth of imports covered.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort, in a report Thursday, expects further improvement in the BOP position in the coming months “if anti-corruption measures and other reform measures, especially in further leveling up the country's governance standards are taken seriously.”

He said ongoing measures to address corruption “help further improve international investor sentiment/confidence.”

Other boosts include the season spike of remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during the Christmas holidays, business process outsourcing (BPO) revenues, improvement in exports, higher foreign tourism receipts and other structural US dollar inflows.

“Going forward, any improvement in BOP data and in GIR data for the coming months could still help provide greater cushion/support/buffer for the peso exchange rate vs. the US dollar especially vs. any speculative attacks; as well as help strengthen the country's external position,” he added.

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