MANILA - The country's gross international reserves (GIR) level rose to $108.89 billion as of the end of December 2021, central bank data released Thursday showed.

The total is $1.17 billion higher compared to the $107.72 billion level in November, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement.

The latest GIR level represents "more than adequate" external liquidity buffer equivalent to 10.3 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, the BSP said.

It is also about 8.8 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.9 times based on residual maturity, it added.

"The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the National Government's (NG) net foreign currency deposits with the BSP and upward adjustment in the value of the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market," the BSP said.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier said there is "hefty" dollar reserves, enough to shield the country from any action by the US Federal Reserves.

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