Philippines’ dollar reserves hit five-month high in August

By Katherine K. Chan, Reporter

The Philippines’ dollar reserves recovered to a five-month high in August amid higher gold prices and net earnings from its foreign investments, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Preliminary central bank data showed it held $104.813 billion in gross international reserves (GIR) at end-August, up 1.45% from end-July’s $103.317 billion.

This was the highest dollar reserves level seen since March, when it stood at $106.636 billion.

However, it fell by 2.13% from $107.098 billion at end-August 2025, marking the sixth month in a row that the GIR declined year on year.

“The increase in reserves was mainly driven by the… upward valuation adjustments in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market, and the BSP’s net income from its investments abroad,” the central bank said in a statement late on Monday.

However, these were partly offset after the government withdrew foreign currency from the central bank to pay off its external debts, the BSP added.

International reserves are the central bank’s foreign assets held mostly as investments in foreign-issued securities, foreign exchange and monetary gold, among others.

These are supplemented by claims to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the form of reserve position in the fund and special drawing rights (SDRs).

Based on preliminary BSP data, its gold holdings rose to a three-month high of $19.109 billion in the eight-month period, jumping by 31.57% from $14.523 billion the previous year and by 9.26% from $17.49 billion a month ago.

However, its foreign currency and deposits plunged by 67.64% to $1.55 billion as of August from $4.789 billion a year earlier and by 17.54% from $1.879 billion.

Its foreign currency-denominated securities, on the other hand, declined by an annual 15.87% to $64.024 billion from $76.103 billion. It also slipped by 4.66% month on month from $67.157 billion.

BSP data also showed the Philippines’ reserve position in the IMF amounted to $728 million, 1.14% lower than the $736.4 million logged in the same month last year. However, it edged up by 0.39% from $725.2 million the prior month.

SDRs — or the amount the Philippines can tap from the IMF’s reserve currency basket — grew by 0.57% to $3.958 billion as of August from $3.935 billion last year and by 0.52% from $3.937 billion from end-July.

Meanwhile, the central bank’s other reserve assets more than doubled (120.28%) to $15.445 billion from $7.011 billion a year ago. It likewise rose by 27.34% from $12.129 billion a month earlier.

“The end-August GIR level can cover up to 6.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments for services and primary income,” the central bank said.

This stands well-above the three-month standard, and could also cover about 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

Ample foreign exchange buffers protect the country from market volatility and ensure that it is capable of paying its debts in case of an economic downturn.

The BSP sees its foreign reserves falling to $104 billion this year from the $110.8 billion it held last year.