End-March 2020 GIR level rises to $89 billion: BSP

April 30, 2020

Gross international reserves (GIR) level, based on preliminary data, rose by $0.81 billion from the end-February 2020 level of $88.19 billion to $89 billion as of end-March 2020, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday.

At this level, the GIR can cover 7.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and services and payments of primary income. It is also equivalent to 5.3 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.8 times based on residual maturity.

The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected inflows arising from the BSP’s foreign exchange operations as well as income from its investments abroad, and the National Government’s foreign currency deposits with the BSP.

These inflows were partly offset, however, by payments made by the National Government for servicing its foreign currency debt obligations.

Net international reserves (NIR), which refers to the difference between the BSP’s GIR and total short-term liabilities, likewise increased by $0.81 billion to $88.99 billion as of end-March 2020 from the end-February 2020 level of $88.18 billion.