The government’s net foreign currency deposits with the Central Bank caused the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) to increase in May 2024, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
The data showed the country’s GIR reached $104.48 billion as of May 2024, higher than the $102.65 billion posted at the end of May 2024.
Compared to the previous year, the country’s GIR in May was higher than the $100.58 billion posted at the end of May 2023.
“The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the National Government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which include proceeds from its issuance of ROP Global Bonds, and net income from the BSP’s investments abroad,” BSP said.
The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.7 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
Moreover, it is also about 5.9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.6 times based on residual maturity.
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 $1.87 billion to $104.46 billion as of end-May 2024 from the end-April 2024 level of $102.59 billion. (TCSP)
