End-October GIR level settles at $80.62 billion

November 7, 2017

Preliminary data showed gross international reserves (GIR) slid marginally to $80.62 billion as of end-October from the previous month’s US$80.96 billion, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr. announced Tuesday.

At this level, the GIR could adequately cover 8.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It is also equivalent to 5.4 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.6 times based on residual maturity, the central bank said.

The month-on-month decline in the GIR level was due mainly to outflows arising from the foreign exchange operations of the BSP and payments made by the national government for its maturing foreign exchange obligations.

These were partially offset by income from the BSP’s investments abroad and the national government's net foreign currency deposits.

Net international reserves (NIR), which refer to the difference between GIR and total short-term liabilities, decreased by $0.35 billion to $80.6 billion as of end-October, compared to the end-September 2017 NIR of $80.95 billion. DMS