THE Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) declined in February on the back of central bank’s foreign exchange operations and the national government’s foreign debt servicing, official data showed on Tuesday. The GIR stood at $81.132 billion in February, a 0.29 percent contraction from the $81.376 billion in January. Dumalagan expects remittances from overseas Filipino workers to remain steady, and continue to help build the country’s foreign reserves. Import coverThe foreign reserves in February were enough to cover 9.2 months worth of imports, steady from January’s cover, but below the 9.9 months a year-earlier, the central bank noted. It said “outflows arising from BSP’s foreign exchange operations and the payments made by the national government for maturing foreign exchange obligations” contributed largely to the GIR contraction.

Source: Manila Times March 07, 2017 18:00 UTC