BSP: Foreign reserves up to $109.08B in February

Philippine dollar reserves rose to $109.08 billion in February on the back of the central bank's foreign exchange operations and income from investments abroad, data released on Thursday showed.

The gross international reserves (GIR) level — a measure of the ability to settle import payments and service foreign debt — compares with $108.673 billion in January, and $88.187 billion in February 2020, based on preliminary data.

"The latest GIR level represents an adequate liquidity buffer, which can help cushion the domestic economy against external shocks," the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a statement.

The buffer is equivalent to 11.7 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It is also about 9.5 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity, and 5.4 times based on residual maturity.

The central bank said inflows in February were partly offset by the revaluation adjustments from its gold holdings, due to the drop in international gold prices.

Withdrawals of the national government from its deposits in the central bank also countered the inflows during the period. These were used to pay for foreign currency debt obligations.

Net international reserves (NIR) — the difference between GIR and total short-term liabilities — grew to $109.08 billion from the previous month's level of $108.67 billion. — RSJ, GMA News