The country’s gross international reserves fell to $103.53 billion at the end of May from $105.4 billion in April on government’s payment of foreign debt and lower value of the gold holdings, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Wednesday. It was the lowest GIR level since September 2020.
“The month-on-month decrease in the GIR level reflected mainly the national government’s foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP to settle its foreign currency debt obligations and pay for its various expenditures,” the BSP said in a statement.
“Further, the downward adjustment in the value of the BSP’s gold holdings due to the decrease in the price of gold in the international market contributed to the decline in the GIR,” it said.
Data showed the value of BSP’s gold holdings declined to $9.02 billion in May from $9.27 billion in April.
The BSP said the latest GIR level still represented more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 9.1 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.