PHL foreign reserves plummet to 10-month low — Bangko Sentral

A decline in the value of  Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' gold holdings dragged the gross international reserves (GIR) to its lowest in 10 months last June, the central bank said in a statement Friday.  

 

GIR, which serves as cushion against external shocks, stood at $81.64 billion as of end-June 2013 or 0.40 percent less than the $81.96 billion a month earlier, preliminary data showed. 

 

The last time the GIR level was lower than the end-June 2013 figure was in August 2012 when it hit $80.72 billion.

 

“The slight decline in reserves was mainly due to revaluation adjustments on the BSP's gold holdings arising from the decrease in the price of gold in the international market,” the statement read. 

 

Other than revaluation losses, payments for maturing foreign exchange obligations of the national government helped depress the country's foreign reserves.

 

Outflows, however, were partially offset by inflows from the central bank's foreign exchange operations and investments abroad as well as foreign currency deposits by the Bureau of Treasury.

 

The GIR level as of end-June was enough to cover 11.8 months worth of imports and is 8.3 times the country's debts maturing in a year. — SOA/VS, GMA News