Gross international reserves (GIR) level, based on preliminary data, rose by S$0.9 billion to $108.05 billion as of end-August from the end-July level of $107.15 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Monday.

The latest GIR level represents a more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 12.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

It is also about 7.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.4 times based on residual maturity.

In August , the increase in the reserves was due mainly to the additional allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to the Philippines given the IMF’s efforts to increase global liquidity amid the pandemic.

This was partly offset, however, by the National Government’s (NG) foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP as the NG settled its foreign currency debt obligations and paid for various expenditures, and the BSP’s net foreign exchange operations.

Similarly, the net international reserves (NIR), which refers to the difference between the BSP’s GIR and total short-term liabilities, increased by $0.89 billion to $108.04 billion as of end-August from the end-July level of $107.15 billion. BSP