The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) level, an indication of capacity to pay for foreign currency-denominated obligations, reached an all-time high of USD112 billion as of end-September 2024 from the end-August 2024 level of USD107.9 billion.
The level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 8.1 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It is also 6.3 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.4 times based on residual maturity.
The month-on-month increase in the GIR reflected mainly the national government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which include proceeds from the NG issuance of ROP Global Bonds, upward valuation adjustments in the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market, and net income from the BSP’s investments abroad.
Similarly, the net international reserves, which refers to the difference between the BSP’s reserve assets (GIR) and reserve liabilities (short-term foreign debt and credit and loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)), increased by USD4.2 billion to USD112.0 billion as of end-September 2024 from the end-August 2024 level of USD107.8 billion.
