MANILA, Philippines — The country’s foreign exchange buffer inched up by 1.1 percent to a 12-month high of $108.89 billion in end-December, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. This was the highest gross international reserves (GIR) level since hitting an all-time high of $110.12 billion in December 2020. However, the buffer fell below the lowered $111 billion GIR target for 2021. In August last year, the Philippines received 1.96 billion special drawing rights (SDR) allocation worth $2.78 billion from the International Monetary Fund, helping boost the country’s foreign exchange buffer. Ricafort said the GIR level was also boosted by strong earnings from the business process outsourcing sector and the entry of proceeds from fund-raising activities.

Source: Philippine Star January 14, 2022 06:24 UTC