MANILA, Philippines--The country's gross international reserves are expected to hit another record in March, due partly to the proceeds from the recent sale of $1.1 billion in Samurai bonds.

According to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country?s GIR reached a record $45.71 billion in February.

The GIR has been posting record highs over the past several months, supported by the continued rise in remittances from Filipinos based abroad, borrowings by the government and modest inflows of foreign investments.

GIR refer to the country?s total amount of reserved foreign currencies and is managed by the central bank. It indicates the country?s ability to purchase imported goods and services, settle debts denominated in foreign currencies and engage in other commercial transactions with the rest of the world.

Monetary officials said one area where the Philippines outperformed other countries is external liquidity as measured by the GIR because reserves kept rising even at the height of the global crisis last year.

According to the central bank, the latest GIR were enough to cover 9.28 months worth of imports, up from 9.25 months registered in January. The latest GIR were also equivalent to 4.5 times the country?s short-term debts.

The central bank said the increase in the GIR was also a result of its foreign exchange operations and income from its investments in instruments issued abroad.