Gross international reserves (GIR) level, based on preliminary data, settled at $108.5 billion as of end-November from the end-October level of $111.1 billion.

The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

Moreover, it is also about 4.3 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

The month-on-month decrease in the GIR level reflected mainly the national government’s (NG) net foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP to settle its foreign currency debt obligations and pay for its various expenditures, BSP’s net foreign exchange operations, and downward valuation adjustments in the BSP’s gold holdings due to the decrease in the price of gold in the international market.

Similarly, the net international reserves (NIR) declined by $2.6 billion to $108.4 billion as of end-November 2024 from the end-October level of $111.0 billion. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas