RP int'l reserves at $23.76B in Jan

The Philippines' gross international reserves reached $23.76 billion in January, rising by $790 million from the December level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Wednesday. The January GIR picked up from the all-time high of $23 billion recorded in December last year. The central bank noted that the January 2006 level was $2 billion more than what was recorded a year earlier. The BSP said the current GIR level was partly due to proceeds from the national government's P1-billion bond issue last month, while bulk was built up from strong forex inflows. In terms of reserve adequacy, the BSP said the end-January GIR level could cover about 4.6 months of imports of goods and payments of reserves and income. The BSP said this level was also equivalent to 4.2 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 2.5 times based on residual maturity. BSP governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr said the GIR is expected to hit a record level of $24 billion this year as dollars from foreign investments and remittances from overseas Filipino workers continue to pour into the country. Tetangco said remittances are expected to reach a record-high of $14 billion this year. With OFW remittances hitting record levels, BSP officials said the 2007 GIR projection was reasonable when projected investments were also considered. - GMANews.TV