Manila: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that the Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) stood at USD104.6 billion at the end of April this year. This figure marks a decrease from the end-March 2025 level of USD106.7 billion.
According to Philippines News Agency, the preliminary data released late Wednesday indicated that the reduction in GIR is primarily due to the national government's drawdowns on its foreign currency deposits with the BSP. These drawdowns were necessary to meet external debt obligations and cover various expenditures. Additionally, the BSP's net foreign exchange operations contributed to the decline.
Despite the decrease in reserves, the BSP emphasized that the current GIR level remains a robust external liquidity buffer. It equates to 7.2 months of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. Furthermore, the reserves cover approximately 3.6 times the country's short-term external debt based on residual maturity, ensuring adequate financial stability.
GIR is considered sufficient if it can fund at least three months' worth of the country's imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation's chief economist, Michael Ricafort, noted that the GIR has remained above the USD100-billion threshold for 19 consecutive months, beginning in October 2023.
In an email, Ricafort commented that maintaining this level of reserves is "still a good signal" of the country's strong external position. This stability could help in stabilizing the peso exchange rate and bolstering the country's favorable credit ratings, which are 1-3 notches above the minimum investment grade in recent years, despite challenges posed by the pandemic.