Philippines’ gross int’l reserves level rises to 106.9 bln USD in August

MANILA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) rose to 106.9 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of August, up from 106.7 billion dollars at the end of July, the Philippine central bank said Friday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the August GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
The central bank said the latest GIR level is about 6.1 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.7 times based on residual maturity.
“The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the net income from the BSP’s investments abroad,” the central bank said. ■