MANILA, Philippines -- The country?s gross international reserves (GIR) rose slightly to $36.7 billion in April from $36.6 billion in the preceding month, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Foreign exchange inflows consisted mostly of the bank's gains from foreign exchange operations, its income from investments abroad, as well as the government's deposit of proceeds from a loan from the Asian Development Bank, the central bank said.

The latest GIR level covers 6.2 months of imports of goods and payments of services and income, central bank said.

The GIR reserves for April are equivalent to 5.2 times the country's short-term external debt, based on original maturity, and 3.4 times based on residual maturity.

The central bank aims to boost the GIR level, including its holdings of gold and other foreign currencies, to a range of from $35 billion to $37 billion by the end of 2008.

($1 = P42.35)