Dollar reserves climb to $105.5 billion in May

MANILA, Philippines —  The country’s dollar reserves inched up to $105.46 billion as of end-May, driven by higher gold prices and net income from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s foreign investments.

Based on preliminary data, gross international reserves (GIR) went up by 0.1 percent from $105.31 billion recorded a month earlier, marking the highest level in two months.

Compared to a year ago, the May GIR level was slightly higher by $450 million or 0.4 percent from last year’s $105.01 billion.

“The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the upward valuation adjustments in the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market,” the central bank said.

The reserves were further bolstered by net income from the BSP’s foreign investments and net foreign currency deposits made by the national government.

The value of the central bank’s gold holdings went up by 2.9 percent to $13.73 billion in May from $13.34 billion in April. Meanwhile, foreign investments decreased by 0.3 percent to $86.42 billion from $86.67 billion a month earlier.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the higher foreign exchange buffer could be attributed to the continued gains in gold holdings to all-time highs after world prices hovered near record highs recently.

Ricafort said this helped offset the latest decline in foreign investments amid the continued Trump risk factor that led to some market volatility worldwide.