Philippine foreign reserves settle at USD 104.1 billion

MANILA — The Philippines’ gross international reserves settled at USD 104.1 billion as of end-April 2026, based on preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The BSP said in a May 7 press release that the latest GIR level provides a “robust external liquidity buffer” equivalent to 6.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. 

The reserves also cover about 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity, the central bank said. 

The April level was lower than the USD 106.6361 billion recorded in March 2026 and the USD 113.2641 billion posted in February 2026, according to BSP data.

It was also below the USD 105.3078 billion recorded in April 2025.

The BSP said GIR consists of foreign-denominated securities, foreign exchange and other reserve assets, including gold.

The central bank said GIR helps ensure sufficient dollar liquidity to meet the country’s import needs and foreign debt obligations, address currency volatility and provide a buffer against external economic shocks.

By convention, GIR is considered adequate if it can finance at least three months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, the BSP said.

The latest level is more than twice that threshold.

The BSP said reserves are also deemed adequate if they are at least equal to 100 percent of a country’s public and private short-term external debt falling due within the next 12 months.

Short-term debt based on residual maturity refers to outstanding external debt with original maturity of one year or less, plus principal payments on medium- and long-term public and private loans falling due within the next 12 months.

As of end-April 2026, the country’s reserve position in the Fund stood at USD 723.6 million.

Gold holdings reached USD 19.7795 billion, while special drawing rights amounted to USD 3.9613 billion.

Foreign investments totaled USD 79.1982 billion, while foreign exchange stood at USD 464.9 million.

The BSP’s chart on page 1 shows that GIR rose from USD 81.6 billion in 2017 to USD 110.1 billion in 2020, before easing to USD 96.1 billion in 2022 and recovering to USD 110.8 billion in 2025.

The same chart shows import cover declining from 7.8 months in 2017 to 6.9 months in April 2026.

The chart also shows short-term external debt cover based on residual maturity moving from 4.2 times in 2017 to 3.8 times in April 2026.