MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – The gross international reserves ( GIR) of the Philippines declined to $80.43 billion in September, according to preliminary data released by the local central bank today.
The Philippine central bank said the September GIR is $440 million, lower than the $80.87 billion recorded in August.
The decline was attributed to the revaluation adjustments on the local central bank’s gold holdings and other foreign currency- denominated reserves as well as payments for maturing foreign exchange obligations of the national government.
The September GIR level is enough to cover 10.9 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income. It is also equivalent to 8.4 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 6.1 times based on residual maturity.
The Philippine central bank has projected the country’s GIR level to reach $85.3 billion by year-end.
