MANILA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) rose to 112.7 billion U.S. dollars as of February, according to the preliminary data released by the Philippine central bank.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday that the latest GIR level provides "a robust external liquidity buffer," equivalent to 7.5 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services, and primary income.
Moreover, it covers 4.2 times the country's short-term external debt based on residual maturity.
GIR is made up of foreign-denominated securities, foreign exchange, and other assets, including gold. ■