End-September 2015 GIR Inches Up to $80.3B

Manila—(PHStocks)—Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)—Preliminary data showed that the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) rose to $80.31 billion as of end-September 2015, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Officer-in-Charge Diwa C. Guinigundo announced. This was slightly higher by $0.05 billion than the end-August 2015 level of $80.26 billion due mainly to the BSP’s foreign exchange operations and its income from investments abroad as well as the National Government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits.

These foreign exchange inflows were partially offset by payments made by the NG for its maturing foreign exchange obligations and revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings and foreign currency-denominated reserves.

The end-September 2015 GIR level remains ample as it can cover 10.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income. It is also equivalent to 6.1 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.4 times based on residual maturity.

Net international reserves (NIR), which refer to the difference between the BSP’s GIR and total short-term liabilities, increased by $0.06 billion to $80.31 billion as of end-September 2015, compared to the end-August 2015 NIR of $80.25 billion.