The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) climbed to $107.1 billion as of end-August from $105.4 billion in the previous month on the back of balance of payments (BOP) surplus, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed over the weekend.
The latest GIR remains an adequate external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.2 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, the BSP said.
It also covers about 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity, it said.
GIR consists of foreign-denominated securities, foreign exchange and other assets including gold. GIR help a country finance its imports and foreign debt obligations, stabilize its currency and provide a buffer against external economic shocks.
The Philippines posted a BOP surplus of $359 million in August 2025, reversing the $167-million deficit in July and the $88-million surplus in the same month last year.
The BSP said the surplus was due to its net income from international investments, which helped narrow the country’s eight-month BOP deficit to $5.4 billion from $5.8 billion in the first seven months of 2025.
The eight-month shortfall was still led by the continued trade-in-goods deficit, which stood at $28.5 billion from January to July, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“This was partly offset by the sustained net inflows from personal remittances from overseas Filipinos, foreign borrowings by the national government, foreign direct and portfolio investments and trade in services,” the BSP said.
