By Bilyonaryo staff
The Philippines’ gross international reserves fell for a third straight month in May as the government drew on foreign currency deposits for debt payments and the central bank recorded lower gold valuations and foreign exchange adjustments.
Gross international reserves stood at $103.97 billion at end-May, down $354 million from $104.33 billion in April.
The BSP said the decline was driven mainly by withdrawals by the national government from its foreign currency deposits with the central bank to service external debt, alongside lower gold valuations due to weaker global prices and net foreign exchange operations.
Despite the decline, the BSP said reserves remained a “strong external liquidity buffer.”
The end-May GIR level covered 6.9 months of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, and was about 3.6 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
By component, foreign investments —the largest share—slipped to $79.25 billion from $79.40 billion in April.
Gold holdings declined to $19.48 billion from $19.78 billion, while foreign currency and deposits rose to $583 million from $469 million.
The reserve position in the International Monetary Fund stood at $712.2 million, while special drawing rights totaled $3.95 billion.
The BSP said gross international reserves consist of foreign assets such as securities, deposits and gold, and serve as a buffer for imports, debt payments, currency stability and external shocks.—Bilyonaryo.com
