The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday it sold gold in the first half of 2024 as part of its active management strategy of the gross international reserves (GIR).
It said in a statement it took advantage of the higher prices of gold in the market and generated additional income without compromising the primary objectives for holding gold, which are insurance and safety.
International brokerage tracking website bestbrokers.com said the BSP sold nearly 25 tons in the first half of 2024, bringing its current gold holdings down to 134.06 tons.
Amid the gold sales, the country’s GIR remained robust, with the end-August 2024 figure rising to $107.9 billion from $103.8 billion as of end-December 2023, the BSP said.
The GIR level provides adequate external liquidity buffer and is equivalent to 7.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, it said.
It also represents about 6.0 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity.
Be the first to comment