Gross international reserves (GIR) rose in August, providing sufficient reserves to meet the country’s import needs, service its external debt obligations, and serve as a buffer against external economic shocks.

​​​​​​GIR rose to $104.8 billion at end-August from $103.3 billion a month earlier.

The increase was mainly driven by: upward valuation adjustments in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s gold holdings du​e to the increase in the price of gold in the international market, and the BSP’s higher net income from its investments abroad as global bond yields increased.

The end-August GIR level can cover up to 6.6 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It can likewise service abo​ut 3.3 times the country's short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

The overall balance of payments (BOP), which captures the transactions of the country with the rest of the world, recorded a $596-million deficit in August.

The BOP deficit in August brought the cumulative BOP position for January-August to a $5.9-billion deficit, higher than the $5.4-billion deficit recorded during the same period last year.

The year-to-date BOP position reflected the continued trade-in-goods deficit and net outflows from foreign portfolio investments.

These were partly offset by the sustained net inflows from personal remittances of overseas Filipinos, foreign borrowings by the NG, trade in services, and foreign direct investment. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas