The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) or its stock of United States (US) dollars and other foreign currencies, dropped to $105.3 billion at end-July, from $106 billion in June, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The central bank attributed the slight decrease to lower global gold prices and the national government withdrawing foreign currency deposits from the BSP to pay foreign debts. On a year-on-year basis, the dollar reserves fell by one percent.

GIR includes the BSP’s reserve assets, such as foreign investments, gold, foreign currency, its reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and special drawing rights (SDR).

According to the BSP, the current reserve level is a “robust” external liquidity buffer. It’s enough to cover 7.2 months of imports and payments for services and income. GIR acts as a country's backup fund to pay for imports and foreign debts, support the local currency, and protect against global economic shocks. The current GIR is also sufficient to cover short-term foreign debt by 3.4 times.

Net international reserves (NIR), the difference between GIR and foreign reserve liabilities, also decreased by $300 million to $105.7 billion at the end of July, down from $106 billion in June.

Emilio S. Neri Jr., senior vice president and lead economist at Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), said that if the central bank “intervenes to keep the US dollar from breaching ₱59:$1 and ₱60:$1, we should see further depletion of our GIR.”

However, Neri noted that with current price movements being sluggish, these potential breaches are not a concern for the BSP at the moment.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort noted that while the GIR is at a six-month low, it remains a three-year high and is still well above the international standard.

Recafort said the drop in the GIR, the fourth in the past five months, was also attributed to “Trump factor,” a global risk leading to market volatility, with a deadline for US trade deals extended to Aug. 7, 2025.

This factor has been impacting the global economy and financial markets since October 2024, Ricafort saiud.

Despite the decline, the GIR is still over the $100-billion mark for the 22nd consecutive month, signaling a strong external position. 
Ricafort said this position helps stabilize the peso and supports the country’s favorable credit ratings, which are one to three notches above the minimum investment grade.

Continued growth in the country's structural US dollar inflows, such as remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) revenues, also supports the GIR.

These inflows have helped the country's balance of payments (BOP) and GIR, with OFW remittances and BPO revenues annually bringing in a combined total of around $80 billion, Ricafort said.