GIR beats official 2025 forecast on bullish gold prices
The value of gold held by the central bank hit a record high in September, tracking a global rally in bullion and lifting the Philippines’ foreign reserves to their highest level in 11 months.
Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) rose by nearly 2 percent month-on-month to $108.8 billion. This was the highest level since October 2024, when the GIR reached $111 billion.
The GIR serves as the country’s buffer against external shocks. It also helps an economy finance its imports and foreign debt obligations in extreme conditions when there are no export earnings or foreign loans.
The BSP can likewise dip into the dollar buffer funds to stabilize the peso.
The reserve assets consist of A-rated foreign investments of the central bank, gold and foreign exchange, as well as borrowing authority with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the country’s contributions to the same Washington-based institution.
At this point, the GIR is running above the BSP’s forecast of $105 billion level by year’s end.
The headline boost came from gold. The value of the central bank’s holdings surged nearly 13 percent to $16 billion—the highest on record since 1971—as global economic and geopolitical jitters drove bullion prices to unprecedented highs.
Adequate cover
Meanwhile, offshore investments of the BSP, which accounted for the bulk of the reserve assets, were nearly unchanged from the preceding month to $87.2 billion. Special drawing rights with the IMF and the country’s contribution to the Fund were also flattish at $3.93 billion and $737 million, respectively.
Foreign exchange holdings fell by 45 percent to $505.1 million.
Overall, the latest GIR level was equivalent to 7.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
By convention, GIR is viewed to be adequate if it can finance at least three months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
