GIR hits 41-month high of $83.97B

The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit a more than three-year high of $83.97 billion at the end of the first half, preliminary Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data released late Thursday showed.

The end-June gross international reserves (GIR) level was higher than the $82.93 billion recorded a month ago as well as the highest since January 2013’s $85.27 billion.

In a statement, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. attributed the higher GIR mostly to “revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings resulting from the increase in the price of gold in the international market and the BSP’s foreign exchange operations, as well as net foreign currency deposits by the national government.”

The increase in GIR in June, however, was partially offset by the national government’s payments for maturing foreign exchange obligations, Tetangco added.

The GIR level as of June could cover 10.3 months’ worth of imports of goods as well as payments of income and services.

The dollar reserves were also equivalent to 5.9 times the short-term external debt based on original maturity as well as 4.3 times based on residual maturity.

The BSP defines short-term debt based on residual maturity as outstanding foreign debt whose original maturity was a year or less, plus principal payments on medium- and long-term loans of the government as well as the private sector falling due within the next 12 months.

As for net international reserves, or the difference between the GIR and total short-term liabilities, these likewise rose to $83.95 billion as of end-June from $82.91 billion a month ago.

Due to weak global trade in the first quarter, the BSP last month slightly cut its projected balance of payments (BOP) position for 2016, which monetary authorities expected to ease to a $2-billion surplus from the earlier projection of a $2.2-billion surplus.

The BOP is a summary of all transactions the country does with the rest of the world. A surplus means the amount of dollars that entered the economy that year was more than the amount that left.

The projected end-2016 GIR level was nonetheless kept at about $82.7 billion, higher than 2015’s $80.7 billion and enough to cover nine months’ worth of imported goods and payments of services and income.