The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the sale of gold during the first half of the year was part of its active management strategy of the country’s gold reserves.

“The BSP 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,” the BSP said in a statement late Tuesday.

Online aggregator BestBrokers earlier reported that the BSP sold 24.95 tons of gold in the first half of the year.

Gold reserves form part of the country’s Gross International Reserves (GIR).

International reserves, technically referred to as GIR, are foreign assets of the BSP held mostly as investments in foreign-issued securities, monetary gold, and foreign exchange.

“Amid the gold sales, the country’s GIR has remained robust, with the end-August 2024 figure rising to USD107.9 billion from USD103.8 billion as of end-December 2023,” the central bank 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.”

The BSP said the GIR 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.

By standard, GIR is viewed to be adequate if it can finance at least three months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. (PNA)