The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) stood at US$104.6 billion as of end-April 2025, based on preliminary data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This marks a decline from the US$106.7 billion recorded at the end of March 2025.
Despite the month-on-month drop, the current GIR level remains a robust external liquidity buffer. It is sufficient to cover approximately 7.2 months’ worth of imports of goods, services, and primary income payments, and is equivalent to 3.6 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
The decrease in GIR was mainly attributed to:
-
Withdrawals by the National Government from its foreign currency deposits with the BSP, primarily to meet external debt obligations and other expenditures; and
-
Net foreign exchange operations by the BSP.
In line with the GIR movement, the country’s net international reserves (NIR) also declined by US$2.0 billion, settling at US$104.6 billion as of end-April 2025, down from US$106.6 billion in March 2025.
