Reserves rose to $81.04 billion in January: central bank  

February 8, 2017

Gross international reserves rose to $81.04 billion, according to preliminary data from the central bank on Tuesday.

In a statement, central bank officer-in-charge Nestor Espenilla said this level was higher by US$0.35 billion than end-December 2016 gross international reserves of $80.69 billion.

This is due mainly to inflows arising from net foreign currency deposits by the National Government, revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings resulting from the increase in the price of gold in the international market, and its income from investments abroad, the statement said,

These were partially offset by payments made by the NG for its maturing foreign exchange obligations and by the BSP’s foreign exchange operations.

The end-January 2017 GIR level can cover 9.2 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It is equivalent to 5.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.1 times based on residual maturity.

Net international reserves , which refer to the difference between the gross international reserves and total short-term liabilities, increased by $0.35 billion to $81.04 billion as of end-January 2017, compared to end-December 2016 net international reserves of US$80.69 billion. DMS