Gross international reserves (GIR), based on preliminary data, settled at $103 billion as of end-January from the end-2024 level of $106.3 billion.

The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

Moreover, it is also about 3.6 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

The month-on-month decrease in the GIR level reflected mainly the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) net foreign exchange operations, and drawdown on the national government’s deposits with the BSP to pay off its foreign currency debt obligations.

Similarly, the net international reserves declined by $3.2 billion to $103 billion as of end-January from the December 2024 level of $106.2 billion. Bangko Sentral ng PIlipinas.