Gross international reserves slump anew to 6-yr low
THE country’s gross international reserves (GIR) dropped anew to its lowest in six years in July, with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) attributing the drop to its foreign exchange operations, lower gold prices, and government debt payments.
Central bank data released on Tuesday night showed the Philippines’ foreign exchange reserves at $76.891 billion, down 0.8 percent from June and also lower compared to the $81.065 billion recorded a year earlier.
Reserve level in July was the lowest since June 2012 when it dropped to $76.129 billion.
The month-on-month decline was due “mainly to outflows arising from the payments made by the national government for its maturing foreign exchange obligations, foreign exchange operations of the BSP, and revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings resulting from the decrease in the price of gold in the international market,” the Bangko Sentral said in a statement.
These were partially tempered by the government’s net foreign currency deposits and central bank income from investments abroad.
The BSP said the latest reserve level was enough to cover 7.4 months worth of imports — lower compared to June’s import cover of 7.5 months and the 8.4 months recorded in 2017 — and was also equivalent to 6.1 times the country’s short-term external obligations due within one year and 4.1 times based on residual maturity.
Net international reserves, which refer to the difference between GIR and total short-term liabilities, decreased to $76.89 billion compared to the end-June level of $77.52 billion. MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
The post Gross international reserves slump anew to 6-yr low appeared first on The Manila Times Online.