Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 6) — Dollar reserves climbed for the third straight month in August, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday.
Gross international reserves (GIR) reached $85.61 billion last month, rising from July’s $85.18 billion and the $77.93 billion tallied in August 2018.
These reserves are used as a measure of economic stability by international debt watchers. The August tally is the biggest since September 2016, when reserves were at $86.14 billion.
Income from the central bank’s offshore investments rose to $73.14 billion, accounting for bulk of the standby funds.
Meanwhile, the value of gold holdings steadied at $8.02 billion as international pricing did not change from a month ago.
The BSP’s foreign exchange holdings also grew to $2.72 billion, up from July. The central bank added that the climb in reserves came as the national government had bigger deposits in foreign currencies, but was partly offset by payments for maturing debt during the month.
Reserves parked with the International Monetary Fund slipped slightly to $563.5 million, while special drawing rights — or additional amounts which the BSP can pull out as needed — stood at $1.17 billion.
The August GIR can cover up to 7.5 months’ worth of the country’s import bill, which is well above the three-month global standard. It can also pay over five times the country’s short-term foreign debt, the BSP added.
