MANILA, Philippines—The amount of dollars held in reserve by the central bank declined slightly in the first month of 2021, as the national government withdrew foreign currency to pay for its maturing debts, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.
In a statement, the BSP said the country’s gross international reserves level, based on initial data, settled at $108.8 billion as of end-January 2021 from the historic high of $110.12 billion at the end of December 2020.
The figures, according to the BSP, “reflected outflows mainly from the foreign currency withdrawals of the national government from its deposits in the BSP to pay its foreign currency debt obligations.”
It added…
Keep on reading: Slight slip in BSP dollar reserve in January linked to foreign debt payments