Dollar reserves rise to 13-month high

By Katherine K. Chan

THE Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) soared to its highest level in over a year as the central bank’s gold holdings reached a record high at the end of November.

The country’s dollar reserves amounted to $111.077 billion as of November, up 0.75% from the $110.249 billion seen a month ago, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

This was the highest GIR level in 13 months or since the $111.084 billion logged in October 2024.

Year on year, the dollar reserves climbed 2.39% from $108.488 billion.

GIR refers to 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).

In a statement released late on Friday, the BSP said that the level of dollar reserves as of November is enough to cover about 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

According to the central bank, a GIR level is deemed adequate if it can cover at least 100% of the country’s payments of public and private foreign debt due within the immediate year.

The country’s foreign reserves at end-November are also equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, more than double the three-month standard.   

“The latest GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer,” the central bank said.

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

Preliminary BSP data showed that its gold holdings jumped to their highest ever at $18.026 billion in the 11-month period, rising by 6.73% from $16.89 billion a month ago. It also surged by 63.49% from $11.026 billion a year ago.

However, BSP’s foreign investments slipped by 0.32% month on month to $87.808 billion from $88.09 billion in October and by 3.83% from $91.304 billion in the same period last year.

Foreign exchange holdings likewise dropped by 4.94% to $603.8 million at end-November from $635.2 million at end-October. Year on year, it slumped by 65.07% from $1.729 billion.

Meanwhile, the country’s reserve position in the IMF inched up by 0.01% to $728.3 million from $728.2 million a month ago. It grew by 8.99% from the $668.2 million recorded at end-November 2024.

SDRs — or the amount which the Philippines can tap from the IMF’s reserve currency basket — increased by 0.14% to $3.911 billion as of November from $3.889 billion the previous month. It likewise climbed by 4% from $3.761 billion a year earlier.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said that higher gold prices in the global market drove up the value of the central bank’s gold holdings to a record high, which in turn increased its dollar reserves. 

“The increase in the GIR (was) again largely due to the latest month-on-month increase in gold holdings by $1.135 billion or 6.7% to a new record high of $18.026 billion as world gold prices gained by 5.9% month-on-month in November 2025; still near the new record highs to $4,381.52 per ounce on Oct. 20, 2025,” he said in an e-mailed note. 

Mr. Ricafort added that the high GIR level allows the BSP to intervene in the foreign exchange market amid the recent peso volatility.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. has said that they have been intervening a bit in the foreign exchange market just to ensure that it wouldn’t become “too messy.”

He later said that the central bank does not have a target level for the peso, but noted that they would more likely intervene when the market goes “crazy.”

On Friday, the peso closed at P58.935 per dollar, climbing by 8.7 centavos from its P59.022 finish on Thursday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed. However, the local unit hit the P59-per-dollar level several times in November, even reaching a fresh low of P59.17 against the greenback on Nov. 12.

“For the coming months, the country’s GIR could still be supported by the continued growth in the country’s structural inflows from OFW (overseas Filipino workers) remittances, BPO (business process outsourcing) revenues, exports (though offset by imports), (and) relatively fast recovery in foreign tourism revenues,” Mr. Ricafort said.

The BSP expects dollar reserves to reach $105 billion this year and $106 billion in 2026.