MANILA – The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) remained at an adequate level despite falling to USD 100 billion at the end of September, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
Preliminary BSP data showed the country’s reserves declined from USD 104.8 billion at the end of August.
The central bank attributed the decrease mainly to its net foreign exchange operations and downward valuation adjustments resulting from changes in the prices of its gold holdings and foreign currency-denominated reserve assets.
The national government’s withdrawals from its foreign currency deposits with the BSP to service external debt and other foreign currency requirements also contributed to the decline.
Despite the drop, the BSP said the reserve level remains sufficient to cover the country’s foreign currency needs and provide protection against external economic shocks.
The USD 100-billion GIR is equivalent to about 6.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments for services and primary income.
It is also enough to cover about 3.2 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
Gross international reserves are foreign assets held by the BSP that can be readily used to meet external payment requirements.
These include foreign securities, currencies and deposits, gold, special drawing rights, the country’s reserve position in the International Monetary Fund and other reserve assets.
