MANILA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) position for the period of January to June 2019 posted a surplus of 4.79 billion U.S. dollars, a turnaround from a 3.26-billion-U.S. dollar deficit recorded in the first half of 2018, the central bank said on Friday.

"The surplus may be attributed partly to remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos during the first five months of the year and net inflows of foreign direct investments during the first four months of the year," the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

The bank said the overall balance of payments position posted a deficit of 404 million U.S. dollars in June, significantly lower than the 1.18-billion-U.S. dollar BOP deficit recorded in the same month last year.

"The substantial outflow in June 2019 stemmed from the principal and interest payments of the national government (NG) on its foreign exchange obligations," the BSP said.

"This outflow was partially tempered, however, by the NG's net foreign currency deposits, and the BSP's foreign exchange operations as well as income from its investments abroad during the month in review," the BSP said.

At this level, the central bank said the gross international reserves (GIR) represents a more than ample liquidity buffer and is equivalent to 7.5 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

"It is also equivalent to 5.1 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.7 times based on residual maturity," the BSP added.

Short-term debt based on residual maturity refers to outstanding external debt with original maturity of one year or less, plus principal payments on medium and long-term loans of the public and private sectors falling due within the next 12 months. Enditem

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