Manila: The country’s foreign reserves remained healthy despite the slight decline in July, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. Data released Thursday showed that the gross international reserves (GIR) settled at USD105.7 billion in July, slightly lower than the USD106 billion recorded as of end-June.

According to Philippines News Agency, GIR are made up of foreign-denominated securities, foreign exchange, and other assets including gold. These reserves help a country finance its imports and foreign debt obligations, stabilize its currency, and provide a buffer against external economic shocks.

Despite the decline, the BSP said the latest GIR level provides a robust external liquidity buffer, equivalent to 7.2 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It also covers about 3.4 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

GIR is viewed to be adequate if it can finance at least three months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.