Strong dollar inflows drive Philippine foreign reserve recovery to $106.7 billion in Feb.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced the country's Gross International Reserves (GIR) reached $106.7 billion at end-February 2025, driven by foreign investments and gold valuations.

The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) increased to $106.7 billion, or about ₱6.1 trillion, as of end-February, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported.

This level, which returned to the December 2024 level from a decline in January 2025, was mainly driven by massive gains in the central bank’s foreign investments.

GIR refers to the BSP’s reserve assets in the form of foreign investments, gold, foreign currency, reserve position in the Washington-based multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF), and special drawing rights (SDR).

As per the BSP’s latest data, the country’s GIR bulked up by $3.4 billion or 3.3 percent from the end-January level of $103.3 billion.

This level is strong enough to cover the country’s import needs and foreign payments for 7.5 months, the BSP said in a March 7 statement.

Likewise, the present GIR level is sufficient to cover short-term foreign debt by 3.8 times, based on residual maturity, reflecting that the country is financially stable.

Short-term debt based on residual maturity includes foreign debt originally due within a year, along with upcoming principal payments on medium- and long-term loans owed by both the public and private sectors within the next year.

GIR is generally considered sufficient if it can cover at least three months’ worth of the country’s imports, service payments, and primary income obligations.

The BSP said that the increase in GIR on a monthly basis was driven by the Marcos administration’s net foreign currency deposits with the central bank, including proceeds from ROP global bonds, higher gold valuations “due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market,” and bulky earnings from the BSP’s investments abroad.

Specifically, foreign investments climbed by over $3 billion to $89.4 billion from $86.4 billion as of end-January. Gold reserves stood at $12.1 billion, rising by $298 million from $11.8 billion in the previous month.

Similarly, net international reserves (NIR)—the difference between GIR and foreign reserve liabilities—rose by $3.4 billion to $106.6 billion by the end of February 2025. It stood at $103.2 billion in January.