Philippines’ Net External Liability Position Declines Quarter-on-Quarter to US$28.5 Billion as of End-June 2022

Second Quarter 2022 Developments

The country’s net international investment position (IIP) registered a net liability position of US$28.5 billion as of end-June 2022, lower by 9.9 percent than the US$31.6 billion recorded in end-March 2022.

This development was mainly driven by the contraction in external financial liabilities (by 5.2 percent), which outpaced that of external financial assets (by 4.6 percent). As of end-June 2022, total outstanding external financial asset stood at US$229 billion, while total outstanding external financial liabilities amounted to US$257.5 billion.

On a year-on-year basis, the country’s net liability position grew by 19.1 percent from US$23.9 billion as of end-June 2021. This developed as total external financial assets decreased by 2.3 percent (from  US$234.4 billion), which more than offset the decline in total external financial liabilities of 0.3 percent (from US$258.3 billion).

External Financial Assets

Almost half (45.9 percent) of residents’ total external financial claims were held by the BSP totaling US$105.1 billion. However, this level was 6.1 percent lower than the US$111.9 billion asset holdings as of end-March 2022. The Other Sectors’ external financial assets comprised 38.9 percent of the country’s total stock of financial assets at US$89 billion. The remaining 15.3 percent of the total external financial assets of the country were held by Banks at US$35 billion.

External Financial Liabilities

The Other Sectors comprised the highest share of the country’s total external financial liabilities at 63.6 percent and amounting to US$163.8 billion as of end-June 2022. This level, however, was 6.3 percent lower than its outstanding liabilities in the previous quarter at US$174.9 billion. The National Government’s total external financial liabilities reached US$60.1 billion and accounted for 23.3 percent of the Philippines’ outstanding external financial liabilities. Bank’s share reached 11.6 percent or US$29.8 billion, while that of the BSP was 1.5 percent or US$3.8 billion of the country’s total external financial liabilities.