Gross international reserves, based on preliminary data, rose by $1.54 billion to $100.49 billion as of end-September from the end-August level of $98.95 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday.

The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected inflows mainly from the BSP’s foreign exchange operations and National Government’s foreign currency deposits with the BSP.

These inflows were partly offset, however, by the revaluation losses from the BSP’s gold holdings resulting from the decrease in the price of gold in the international market and foreign currency withdrawals made by the National Government to pay its foreign currency debt obligations.

The end-September GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer, which can cushion the domestic economy against external shocks.

This buffer is equivalent to 10 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. Moreover, it is also about 9.2 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.4 times based on residual maturity.

Similarly, the net international reserves (NIR), which refers to the difference between the BSP’s GIR and total short-term liabilities, increased by $1.53 billion to $100.48 billion as of end-September from the end-August level of $98.95 billion. BSP