The country’s foreign exchange buffer climbed for the fourth straight month, hitting a six-month high of $99.72 billion in January from $96.15 billion in December amid strong inflows arising from foreign borrowings by the national government, as well as the increase in gold prices in the world market, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The country’s gross international reserves (GIR) level has been increasing since October last year, reaching the highest level since the $99.84 billion recorded in July 2022.
BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said the month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the national government’s net foreign currency deposits with the central bank, which include proceeds from the issuance of its global bonds.
Last month, the Philippines raised $3 billion from the international debt market through the issuance of triple-tranche global bonds to take advantage of high demand and easing global interest rates.
The government raised $500 million from the issuance of 5.5-year tenor bonds with a coupon rate of 4.743 percent, while $1.25 billion was raised from the issuance of bonds with a maturity of 10.5 years and a rate of five percent.
Its 25-year sustainability bond fetched an average rate of 5.5 percent and raised another $1.25 billion.
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