End-February 2015 GIR Level Rises to $81.3B

Manila—(PHStocks)—Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)—Preliminary data showed that the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) rose to $81.3 billion as of end-February 2015, said BSP Officer-in-Charge Vicente S. Aquino. This level was higher by $0.6 billion compared to the end-January 2015 GIR of $80.7 billion.

The GIR level can cover 10.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income. It is also equivalent to 8.6 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 6 times based on residual maturity.

The increase in reserves was due mainly to the National Government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits and the BSP’s foreign exchange operations and income from investments abroad. These were partially offset by revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings arising from the decrease in the price of gold in the international market as well as on its foreign currency-denominated reserves, and payments made by the NG for its maturing foreign exchange obligations.

Net international reserves (NIR), which refer to the difference between the BSP’s GIR and total short-term liabilities, also increased to US$81.3 billion as of end-February 2015, compared to the end-January 2015 NIR of US$80.7 billion.