By Katherine K. Chan
THE Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) soared to its highest level in over a yr because the central bank’s gold holdings reached a record high at the tip of November.
The country’s dollar reserves amounted to $111.077 billion as of November, up 0.75% from the $110.249 billion seen a month ago, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
This was the best GIR level in 13 months or because the $111.084 billion logged in October 2024.
Yr on yr, the dollar reserves climbed 2.39% from $108.488 billion.
GIR refers back to the central bank’s foreign assets held mostly as investments in foreign-issued securities, foreign exchange, and monetary gold, amongst others.
These are supplemented by claims to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the shape of reserve position within the fund and special drawing rights (SDRs).
In an announcement released late on Friday, the BSP said that the extent of dollar reserves as of November is sufficient to cover about 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
In accordance with the central bank, a GIR level is deemed adequate if it could actually cover a minimum of 100% of the country’s payments of private and non-private foreign debt due inside the immediate yr.
The country’s foreign reserves at end-November are also akin to 7.4 months’ price of imports of products and payments of services and first income, greater than double the three-month standard.
“The newest GIR level provides a sturdy external liquidity buffer,” the central bank said.
Ample foreign exchange buffers protect the country from market volatility and be certain that it’s able to paying its debts within the event of an economic downturn.
Preliminary BSP data showed that its gold holdings jumped to their highest ever at $18.026 billion within the 11-month period, rising by 6.73% from $16.89 billion a month ago. It also surged by 63.49% from $11.026 billion a yr ago.
Nonetheless, BSP’s foreign investments slipped by 0.32% month on month to $87.808 billion from $88.09 billion in October and by 3.83% from $91.304 billion in the identical period last yr.
Foreign exchange holdings likewise dropped by 4.94% to $603.8 million at end-November from $635.2 million at end-October. Yr on yr, it slumped by 65.07% from $1.729 billion.
Meanwhile, the country’s reserve position within the IMF inched up by 0.01% to $728.3 million from $728.2 million a month ago. It grew by 8.99% from the $668.2 million recorded at end-November 2024.
SDRs — or the quantity which the Philippines can tap from the IMF’s reserve currency basket — increased by 0.14% to $3.911 billion as of November from $3.889 billion the previous month. It likewise climbed by 4% from $3.761 billion a yr earlier.
Rizal Business Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said that higher gold prices in the worldwide market drove up the worth of the central bank’s gold holdings to a record high, which in turn increased its dollar reserves.
“The rise within the GIR (was) again largely resulting from the most recent month-on-month increase in gold holdings by $1.135 billion or 6.7% to a brand new record high of $18.026 billion as world gold prices gained by 5.9% month-on-month in November 2025; still near the brand new record highs to $4,381.52 per ounce on Oct. 20, 2025,” he said in an e-mailed note.
Mr. Ricafort added that the high GIR level allows the BSP to intervene within the foreign exchange market amid the recent peso volatility.
BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. has said that they’ve been intervening a bit within the foreign exchange market simply to be certain that it wouldn’t develop into “too messy.”
He later said that the central bank doesn’t have a goal level for the peso, but noted that they’d more likely intervene when the market goes “crazy.”
On Friday, the peso closed at P58.935 per dollar, climbing by 8.7 centavos from its P59.022 finish on Thursday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed. Nonetheless, the local unit hit the P59-per-dollar level several times in November, even reaching a fresh low of P59.17 against the greenback on Nov. 12.
“For the approaching months, the country’s GIR could still be supported by the continued growth within the country’s structural inflows from OFW (overseas Filipino employees) remittances, BPO (business process outsourcing) revenues, exports (though offset by imports), (and) relatively fast recovery in foreign tourism revenues,” Mr. Ricafort said.
The BSP expects dollar reserves to achieve $105 billion this yr and $106 billion in 2026.