Philippines’ dollar reserves slide to 15-month low at end-April

By Katherine K. Chan, Reporter

The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) fell to its lowest level in over a year as its foreign exchange holdings slumped at end-April, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Preliminary central bank data showed that the country’s GIR level stood at $104.128 billion as of end-April, down 2.35% from the $106.636 billion a month ago.

This was the lowest GIR level in 15 months or since the $103.271 billion logged in January 2025.

Year on year, the country’s dollar reserves slipped by 1.12% from $105.308 billion.

Still, the central bank noted that the end-April reserves are enough to cover about 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

It likewise translates to 6.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, more than double the three-month standard.

“The latest GIR level ensures availability of foreign exchange to meet balance of payments financing needs, such as for payment of imports and debt service, in extreme conditions when there are no export earnings or foreign loans,” the BSP said late on Thursday.

Dollar 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).

BSP data showed that the latest decline in foreign reserves came as the country only held $464.9 billion in foreign exchange during the period, plunging by 73.38% from the $1.747 billion the prior month and by 30.85% from $672.3 million last year.

Its gold holdings were also slightly lower month on month as of end-April at $19.78 billion, down 1.97% from $20.177 billion at end-March. However, it jumped by 48.29% from $13.338 billion a year ago.

Meanwhile, its foreign investments dropped by 1.11% to $79.198 billion from $80.088 billion the previous month and by 8.63% from $86.674 billion a year earlier.

However, its reserve position in the IMF climbed by 1.3% month on month to $723.6 million as of end-April from $714.3 million previously but dipped 2.43% from $741.6 million in the same period in 2025.

The country’s SDRs — or the amount the Philippines can tap from the IMF’s reserve currency basket — also reached $3.961 billion, 1.29% higher than the $3.912 billion as of end-March and up 2.05% from $3.882 billion last year.

For 2026, the BSP sees the country’s foreign reserves ending at $111 billion.