August gross international reserves rose to $81.51 billion: BSP

September 7, 2017

Gross international reserves rose to $81.51 billion in August from the previous month's $81.07 billion, preliminary data announced by the central bank said Thursday,

"This level could adequately cover 8.7 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income", said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Officer-in-Charge Diwa Guingundo in a statement.

It is also equivalent to 5.6 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.7 times based on residual maturity.

The build-up in reserves was due mainly to inflows arising from the revaluation adjustments on the BSP gold holdings resulting from the increase in the price of gold in the international market, national government net foreign currency deposits, and income from the BSP’s investments abroad.

However, these were partially offset by the payments made by the national government for its maturing foreign exchange obligations and the foreign exchange operations of the BSP.

Net international reserves, which refer to the difference between the BSP’s GIR and total short-term liabilities, increased by $0.45 billion to $81.51 billion as of end-August 2017, compared to the end-July 2017 level of $81.06 billion. DMS