The country’s buffer against potential losses from the financial volatility caused by global developments improved further after foreign-currency reserves increased in June this year on the back of larger inflows from the central bank’s foreign-exchange operations.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Tuesday that the Philippines’s gross international reserves (GIR) increased to $80.76 billion at the end of the first half.
This is about $355 million higher than the $80.405-billion level seen in May this year.
It was also slightly higher than the $80.73 billion seen in June last year.
An ample level of reserves means that the country has the capacity to repay its obligations and has enough buffers against risks to global imbalances.
The BSP’s inflows from its foreign- exchange operations hit $980 million in June, up from $495.8 million in the previous month.
The central bank said the increase in reserves was also augmented by the net foreign-currency deposits by the treasurer of the Philippines.
The BSP also said the country’s GIR for the month could have been higher if not for the payments for maturing foreign-exchange obligations of the national government, as well as the revaluation of adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings.
Available data from the central bank showed that its gold holdings for the period hit $7.37 billion, down from the $7.48 billion seen in the previous month.
At this level of GIR, it can amply finance about 10.6 months’ worth of imported goods and payments of services and income of the country.
The BSP also noted that the GIR can fund 6.2 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity, or 4.5 times based on residual maturity.