Philippines’ foreign reserves surge to $104b in March

The Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) increased to $104 billion at the end of March from $102 billion in February, Xinhua reported on Sunday, citing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

This level is considered a strong external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.7 months of imports and payments.

The GIR is 6.1 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.7 times based on residual maturity.

The rise in GIR was driven by the government’s foreign currency deposits, valuation adjustments in gold holdings, and income from investments abroad.

(1 United States dollar = 56.59 Philippine peso)