PHL foreign reserves slightly dips to $79B as of end-Nov. – Bangko Sentral

Philippine foreign reserves dipped to $79.0 billion in November, slightly lower from $79.4 billion in October, largely on gold valuations and foreign exchange obligations and operations of government, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.

 

Despite the slight reduction, the gross international reserves (GIR) remains enough to cover imports of goods and payments on services and income for 10.7 months, the central bank said. 

 

"It is also equivalent to 8.3 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 6.0 times based on residual maturity," it added.

 

The central bank attributed the decrease in reserves "to the net foreign exchange operations of the BSP, payments for maturing foreign exchange obligations of the National Government and revaluation adjustments of BSP's gold holdings and other foreign currency-denominated reserves.

 

"These outflows were partially offset by the net foreign currency deposits by the Treasurer of the Philippines, income from the BSP’s investments abroad," it added. – VS, GMA News