The country's balance of payments or BoP in September showed a lower deficit at $414 million, down from $2.3 billion in the same month last year as the national government continued to fulfill its foreign currency debt obligations, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported Thursday.

Nevertheless, the Philippines' BoP position from January to September resulted in a surplus of $1.7 billion, a reversal of the $7.8 billion deficit in the same period last year.

The BSP attributed the better cumulative BoP position to healthier balance of trade and growth in net inflows of personal remittances and trade in services.

BoP refers to all of the country's international financial transactions and is used to determine problematic or weak areas of the economy.

First eight months

The country's trade deficit in the first eight months narrowed to $36.3 billion from $41.9 billion in the same period a year ago, preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority revealed.

Meanwhile, personal remittances grew by 2.9 percent to $24.01 billion from January to August, as cash remittances posted a 2.8 percent increase to $21.58 billion during this period.

GIR decrease

In contrast, gross international reserves or GIR decreased to $98.1 billion in September from $99.6 billion in August. GIR includes foreign investments, gold, foreign exchange, reserves with the International Monetary Fund, and special drawing rights.

BSP, however, said the latest GIR level is more than adequate to fulfill the government's external obligations as it is equivalent to 7.3 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

The GIR is considered adequate if it can finance at least three-months' worth of the country's imports of goods, payments of services and primary income.