The country’s gross international reserves added $1.35 billion in October to reach $107.95 billion from $106.6 billion in September, partly driven by higher gold valuations in the world market, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Friday.
Data from the BSP showed the figure also increased from $103.8 billion in October 2020. Gold holdings reached $9.13 billion in October, up from $8.8 billion in September but down from $11.65 billion a year ago.
The latest GIR level represented more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 10.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, down from 12 months in January, as the import value substantially increase in recent months with the reopening of the economy.
It was also about 7.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.4 times based on residual maturity, according to the BSP.
“The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the BSP and upward adjustment in the value of the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market,” the BSP said in a statement.
The net international reserves, which refer to the difference between the GIR and total short-term liabilities, grew by $1.35 billion to $107.93 billion in October from $106.58 billion in September.
The GIR reached an all-time high of $110.1 billion in December last year. This year, the BSP expects GIR to settle at $114 billion by yearend.