THE country’s gross international reserves (GIR) fell to its lowest level in three months in February with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) attributing the drop to its foreign exchange operations, the government’s foreign debt payments and gold prices. Central bank data released on Wednesday showed the Philippines’ foreign exchange reserves at $80.618 billion, down 1.16 percent from January and also lower compared to the $81.436 billion recorded a year earlier. These were partially tempered by the government’s net foreign currency deposits, which included proceeds from the new money component of the ROP Global Bonds issuance under the government’s liability management transactions, and income from BSP foreign exchange operations. The government made a successful return to the international capital markets in January via 10-year global bond issue. Net international reserves (NIR), which refer to the difference between the BSP’s GIR and total short-term liabilities, decreased to $80.6 billion compared to the end-January level of $81.2 billion.

Source: Manila Times March 07, 2018 17:15 UTC