The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said preliminary data showed that the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) settled at USD106.2 billion as of end-March this year.

Data released late Monday showed that the GIR level during the month was slightly lower than the USD107.4 billion recorded in February this year.

International reserves, also referred to as GIR, are foreign assets of the BSP held mostly as investments in foreign-issued securities, monetary gold, and foreign exchange.

“The month-on-month decrease in the GIR level reflected mainly the drawdowns by the national government on its foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to meet its external debt obligations and BSP’s net foreign exchange operations,” said the BSP.

The BSP said net international reserves or 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), also decreased to USD106.2 billion from USD107.4 billion in February.

Despite the decline, the BSP said the latest GIR provides a robust external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

It also covers about 3.7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

By convention, GIR is viewed to be adequate if it can finance at least three months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. (PNA)