The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) reached a record high of $112.72 billion as of end-February 2026 from $112.61 billion in January, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed Friday.
The preliminary figures represent an increase from the $107.4 billion recorded in February 2025. The year-on-year growth was led by a substantial uptick in the nation’s gold holdings.
Data showed that on a month-on-month basis, gold holdings rose 11.56 percent to $23.06 billion from $20.67 billion in January. Foreign exchange holdings also increased 7.55 percent to $1.31 billion from $1.22 billion.
Special drawing rights edged up 0.02 percent to $3.979 billion from $3.978 billion. However, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund fell 0.52 percent to $726.4 million from $730.2 million in January, while foreign investments declined 2.76 percent to $83.65 billion from $86.02 billion.
The BSP said the latest GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.5 months of imports of goods, service payments and primary income.
It also covers about 4.2 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
The BSP previously reported that the country’s outstanding external debt rose to $149.09 billion as of the third quarter of 2025, a marginal 0.1-percent increase from the previous quarter.
The BSP said the debt level “remained broadly stable” in the third quarter and that the country’s external obligations stayed manageable, supported by solid economic conditions and prudent policies.
The slight quarter-on-quarter increase was led by the net acquisition of Philippine debt securities by non-resident investors, totaling $1.47 billion.
This was partially offset by net repayments of $764.56 million and valuation adjustments of $442.50 million due to the appreciation of the US dollar during the reference period.
The BSP said that on a year-on-year basis, external debt saw a larger increase of 6.8 percent. This attributed to new borrowings, including government bond issuances amounting to $3.33 billion and external financing secured by local banks totaling $1.58 billion.
