GIR Level Hits All-Time High Of $112 Billion

The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) level, based on preliminary data, reached an all-time high of US$112.0 billion as of the end of September 2024, up from the end-August 2024 level of US$107.9 billion.

The upward valuation adjustments in the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market were also reflected in the month-on-month GIR levels.

The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 8.1 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

Moreover, it is also about 6.3 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.4 times based on residual maturity.

The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the (1) National Government’s (NG) net foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which include proceeds from the NG issuance of ROP Global Bonds, (2) upward valuation adjustments in the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market, and (3) net income from the BSP’s investments abroad.

Similarly, the net international reserves, which refers to the difference between the BSP’s reserve assets (GIR) and reserve liabilities (short-term foreign debt and credit and loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)), increased by US$4.2 billion to US$112.0 billion as of the end of September 2024, up from the end-August 2024 level of US$107.8 billion.