Dollar reserves fall to $104.6B at end-April

THE Philippines' dollar reserves declined by 1.9% as of end-April, as the National Government (NG) repaid more foreign debt, the central bank said.

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Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed gross international reserves (GIR) dropped to $104.6 billion as of end-April from $106.7 billion as of end-March.

Year on year, the dollar reserves rose by 1.9% from $102.65 billion.

"This latest GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer," the BSP said.

The dollar reserves in April were the lowest since the $103.27 billion seen in January.

"The month-on-month decrease in the GIR level reflected mainly the (1) NG's drawdowns on its foreign currency deposits with the BSP to meet its external debt obligations and pay for its various expenditures, and (2) BSP's net foreign exchange operations," the central bank said in a statement.

International reserves are foreign assets of the BSP held mostly as investments in foreign-issued securities, monetary gold, and foreign exchange. These are supplemented by claims to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the form of reserve position in the fund and special drawing rights (SDRs).