Even as gold holdings thinned to an eight-month low, the Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) still rebounded in June, reaching $104.8 billion after hitting a 16-month low in May, as the government’s foreign-currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) outpaced its withdrawals.

The latest preliminary BSP data released on Tuesday night, July 7, showed that GIR rose from the $103.99 billion recorded in the previous month. Despite this recovery, the country’s stock of foreign currencies and assets remains below the record high of $113.3 billion in February 2026.

According to the BSP, the month-on-month increase was “mainly driven by the national government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits with the BSP, and the BSP’s net income from its investments abroad.”

These gains were partially offset by “downward valuation adjustments, primarily driven by changes in the prices of the BSP’s gold holdings and foreign currency-denominated reserve assets,” as well as the government’s drawdowns for external debt service.

It bears noting that, of the total reserves, gold holdings continued their downward trend, falling to $17.19 billion in June from $19.48 billion in May—the lowest level in eight months since October 2025’s $16.89 billion.

Foreign investments, specifically foreign-denominated securities, also inched down to $72.09 billion from $72.75 billion in the previous month.

Despite these offsetting components, the BSP maintained that GIR remained “adequate” and continued to “serve as a buffer against external economic shocks.”

Specifically, the end-June reserve level is sufficient to cover 6.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, a slight improvement from the 6.7 months reported in May.

Furthermore, the BSP stated that GIR as of June is enough to cover the country’s short-term external debt 3.7 times based on residual maturity. This declined modestly from the 3.85 times coverage reported in May.

GIR is composed of the BSP’s reserve assets, including foreign-denominated securities, gold, special drawing rights (SDRs), foreign exchange (forex) made up of currency and deposits, and the country’s reserve position in the Washington-based multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF). These reserves are critical for supporting the local currency and ensuring the country can meet its international obligations. - Derco Rosal