MANILA - The country's gross international reserves level dipped in February, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Tuesday.
February's GIR level declined to $98.2 billion from $100.7 billion the previous month, data from the central bank showed.
Despite the decline, the BSP said the latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.4 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.
The level is also about 5.9 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.9 times based on residual maturity.
Economic managers have said that keeping "hefty" reserves would allow the country to timely respond to external shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
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