Manila: The country's gross international reserves (GIR) rose to its highest level since October last year, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. Preliminary data released Tuesday indicated that the country's GIR increased to USD108.8 billion in September, up from USD107.1 billion in August.

According to Philippines News Agency, this is the highest recorded level since the USD11.08 billion in October 2024. International reserves, also known as GIR, consist of foreign-denominated securities, foreign exchange, and other assets, including gold. These reserves are crucial for a country to finance its imports and foreign debt obligations, stabilize its currency, and provide a buffer against external economic shocks.

The BSP attributed the increase in GIR to higher global gold prices, income from BSP investments, and foreign currency deposits by the national government with the BSP. "The latest GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.3 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income," the BSP stated.

Furthermore, the reserves cover about 3.6 times the country's short-term external debt based on residual maturity. By convention, GIR is considered adequate if it can finance at least three months' worth of the country's imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.