Philippine dollar reserves gain thanks to gold, investments

Four thousand US dollars are counted out by a banker counting currency at a bank. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ dollar reserves rose slightly in May, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday.

This was attributed to inflows from higher gold prices, investments and new deposits from the government.

The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) went up to $105.5 billion from $105.3 billion in April.

READ: Philippine dollar reserves fall to $104.6B in April

The latest GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. This is way above the global standard of three-month import cover.

The May GIR was also above the $105 billion full-year projection of the BSP.

READ: Lecture on ancient PH gold held in Washington

“The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the (1) upward valuation adjustments in the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market, (2) net income from the BSP’s investments abroad, and (3) national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the BSP,” the central bank said.