GIR up slightly to $80.95 B

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s gross international reserves  rose for the fourth consecutive month in July, boosted by the foreign currency deposits by the national government and earnings from the foreign exchange operations of the central bank.

The BSP said the country’s GIR rose to $80.95 billion in July from the $80.73 billion in June.

“The increase in reserves was due mainly to the net foreign currency deposits by the Treasurer of the Philippines which included proceeds of project and program loans from multilateral and bilateral institutions,” the BSP said.

Also lifting the country’s forex reserves were gains from the foreign exchange operations of the central bank and income from its investments abroad.

The latest forex reserves tally is enough to pay for 11 months worth of imports of goods and services and income.

The BSP also said the July GIR figure is also equivalent to 7.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.7 times based on residual maturity.

At the same time, net international reserves or GIR less short-term debts also went up to $80.9 billion in July from $80.7 billion in the previous month.

The BSP last month cut is full-year forecast for GIR to $85.3 billion from a December projection of $88 billion.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to $83.19 billion in 2013, slightly lower than the $83.83 billion recorded in 2012.