Central Bank of the Philippines reports end-May reserves of US$104.0 billion and a US$131 million May balance of payments surplus

The Central Bank of the Philippines reported that gross international reserves remained adequate at US$104.0 billion at end-May 2026. The reserve stock was enough to cover 6.7 months of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, and 3.9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity. The overall balance of payments recorded a US$131 million surplus in May, narrowing the cumulative deficit for January to May to US$7.3 billion from US$7.4 billion in January to April. The modest movement in reserves reflected national government drawdowns on foreign currency deposits with the central bank for external debt service, downward valuation adjustments driven mainly by changes in the prices of gold holdings and foreign currency-denominated reserve assets, and the central bank’s net foreign exchange operations. These factors were partly offset by the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the central bank and net income from the central bank’s investments abroad. The year-to-date balance of payments deficit reflected the continued trade in goods deficit and net outflows from foreign portfolio investments, partly offset by sustained net inflows from remittances of overseas Filipinos, national government foreign borrowings, trade in services and foreign direct investments.