Strong remittances from overseas Filipino workers lifted the country's gross international reserves to $94 billion, adding external liquidity buggers, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed. In addition, the Philippines' overall balance of payments surplus declined to $711 billion as of end-October.
According to the BSP, the country's GIR level as of end-October 2022 increased from $93.0 billion as of end-September 2022.
The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.5 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, BSP said.
Moreover, it is also about 6.9 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.1 times based on residual maturity, BSP added.
Phl's BoP position declines
Meanwhile, the country's overall BoP position in October 2022 is lower than the $1.1 billion BoP surplus recorded in the same month last year. However, the BoP surplus in October is the highest in seven months since March 2022.
The BoP surplus for the month reduced the cumulative BoP deficit in January-October 2022 to $7.1 billion from a deficit of $7.8 billion in the year's first three quarters.
The BoP surplus in October 2022 reflected inflows arising mainly from the national government's net foreign currency deposits with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, BSP said.
The country's BoP level is also a reversal from the $476 million surplus recorded in the same period a year ago.
According to BSP, the current year-to-date BoP level reflected the widening trade in goods deficit as goods imports continued to surpass goods exports on the back of the ongoing surge in international commodity prices and resumption of domestic economic activities.
