The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) holdings of foreign exchange through forward swaps increased in January as the country's strong external position allowed monetary authorities to build up foreign exchange liquidity.

The central bank's forward swap holdings, which serve as a foreign exchange buffer for the country as these represent additional foreign reserves when the swap contracts are unwound, rose 10 percent to $2.55 billion at end-January from $2.32 billion at-end December.

Proceeds from a $1.5 billion global bond allowed the Southeast Asian country to record a balance of payments surplus of $1.735 billion in January, which was a reversal of a deficit of $275 million in December.

Most of central bank's swaps at end January were placed in forwards with one month maturity, and a small portion with three month maturity, data from the central bank website showed.

The country's gross international reserves climbed to a record $39.316 billion at the end of February.