The forex reserves in October stood at $79.296 billion, the lowest since June 2012.
“The drop in foreign reserves at end-October was mainly due revaluation of the central bank's gold holdings and payments for maturing obligations of the national government,” the central bank said.
Gross international reserves reflect a country's ability to pay its foreign debt and its imports of goods and services.
October’s forex reserves can cover 10.8 months worth of imports and is equal to six times short-term foreign debt and residual maturity basis.
The forex reserves in September were revised from $80.434 billion to $79.557 billion.
The central bank expects end-2014 foreign reserves to reach $85.3 billion, lower from an earlier forecast of $88 billion.
At the end of 2013, foreign reserves reached $83.2 billion.
The BSP expects cash remittances from Filipinos overseas to rise 5 percent this year after a 6.4 percent growth in 2013 when they hit a record $22.97 billion.
The Philippine central bank is likely to leave interest rates on hold for the rest of the year, given easing inflation and slowing money supply growth, before it resumes raising them next year ahead of policy tightening by the US Federal serve. -- With Reuters
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
