Philippines’ gross int’l reserves level rises to 105.65 bln USD in July

MANILA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) — The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) rose to 105.65 billion U.S. dollars at the end of July, up from 105.19 billion dollars at the end of June, the Philippine central bank said Wednesday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the July GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
The central bank added the July GIR level is about 6.1 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity.
“The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the upward valuation adjustments in the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market, net income from the BSP’s investments abroad, and the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the BSP,” the BSP said. ■