The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said late Tuesday that the sale of gold is part of the bank's active management strategy of the country's gold reserves.
Online aggregator BestBrokers earlier reported that the BSP sold 24.95 tons of gold in the year's first half.
"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."
It said the bank sold gold from the country's gold reserve during the first half of the year, which forms part of the country's Gross International Reserves (GIR).
However, the BSP said that amid the gold sales, the country's GIR has remained robust, with the figure as of August 2024 rising to $107.9 billion from $103.8 billion as of December 2023.
The GIR level provides an adequate external liquidity buffer and is equivalent to 7.8 months' worth of imports of goods, payments of services, and primary income.
It also represents about 6.0 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times on residual maturity.
By standard, GIR is considered adequate if it can finance at least three months' worth of the country's imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
Comments