MANILA, March 20 -- The country's overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a deficit of USD196 million in February.

In a report released late Tuesday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the deficit last month was lower than the USD895 million deficit recorded in February last year.

"The BOP deficit in February 2024 reflected outflows arising mainly from the national government's (NG) payments of its foreign currency debt obligations," the central bank said.

The BOP is a summary of the economic transactions of a country with the rest of the world for a specific period.

The overall position can be in surplus, deficit, or balance.

For the first two months of the year, the BOP level was at USD936 million deficit, a rever...