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Philippine foreign reserves hit 37-bln-USD at 2008 year end |
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08:25, January 08, 2009 |
The Philippines' gross international reserves reached 37.1 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2008, slightly higher than the 2007 yearend level of 33.8 billion U.S. dollars, the central bank said Wednesday.
The central bank said the annual increase in the foreign reserves level in 2008 was attributed mainly to inflows from the bank's foreign exchange operations and income from its investments abroad.
It said proceeds from its bond sale further sustained the foreign reserves growth.
The figure is more remarkable in view of the central bank's repeated effort to defend a weakening peso, sliding to near a 2-year-low against the greenback in late November.
The peso was cited as one of the best performing Asian currencies in 2007.
The central bank said the year-end foreign reserves level can cover 5.6 months of imports of goods and payments of services and income.
It was also equivalent to 4.5 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 2.8 times based on residual maturity, it added.
Source:Xinhua
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