THE country’s gross international reserves declined to a three-month low of $80.87 billion at the end of March from $81.44 billion a month ago, pulled down mainly by the government’s settlement of maturing foreign exchange obligations, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data on Friday show.
Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a statement the month-on-month drop was due mainly to the payments made by the national government for its maturing foreign exchange obligations and outflows arising from foreign exchange operations.
“These were partly offset by net foreign currency deposits of the national government and revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings resulting from the increase in the price of gold in the international market,” Tetangco said.
