The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) surpassed the $110-billion mark after the balance of payments (BOP) recorded a surplus for the third consecutive month in October 2025.
Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the BOP registered a $706-million surplus in October, reflecting an improvement in the country’s external accounts.
The October surplus mirrored the increase in gross international reserves to $110.2 billion as of end-October 2025. The BSP said this level of reserves provides an adequate external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
It said the latest GIR level ensures the availability of foreign exchange to meet BOP financing needs, such as for payment of imports and debt service, even in extreme conditions where there are no export earnings or foreign loans.
The reserves also cover about 3.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity. Short-term debt based on residual maturity includes outstanding external debt with an original maturity of one year or less and principal payments on medium- and long-term loans of the public and private sectors due within the next 12 months.
Data showed that from January to October 2025, the BOP recorded an overall deficit of $4.6 billion, although this figure showed signs of narrowing as inflows strengthened in recent months.
The BOP accounts for the transactions of the country with the rest of the world, while GIR is comprised of foreign-denominated securities, foreign exchange and other assets including gold.
GIR helps a country finance its imports and foreign debt obligations stabilize its currency and provide a buffer against external economic shocks.
