Forex reserves hit $77B in January

The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) registered another record high in January as foreign exchange inflows from remittances and other usual sources kept coming in.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported Tuesday that the GIR, the total reserves of foreign currencies, reached $77.04 billion in end-January, thus hitting a new historic high. The latest GIR was up 21 percent from $63.54 billion as of the same period last year and was equivalent to 11.3 months’ worth of the country’s usual imports.

The sources of foreign exchange inflows were led by remittances, foreign portfolio investments and foreign investments in the business process outsourcing sector. Remittances continue to grow even amid an uncertain global economic climate as global demand for Filipino labor remained strong, officials said.

The inflows allowed the BSP to buy dollars and other foreign currencies in the market as part of its usual trading operations and efforts to smoothen the volatility in the exchange rate.

Officials said the BSP continued to maintain a policy of allowing a market-determined exchange rate, but intervened from time to time by trading currencies to temper too much appreciation or depreciation of the peso.