Photo: VCG

MANILA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) rose by 1.63 billion U.S. dollars to the all-time high of 87.86 billion U.S. dollars as of end-December 2019 from 86.23 billion U.S. dollars as of end-November 2019, the country's central bank said on Tuesday.

Citing preliminary data, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflects the inflows arising from the BSP's foreign exchange operations and income from its investments abroad, and the national government's net foreign currency deposits.

"These inflows were offset partly, however, by outflows representing payments made by the national government on its foreign exchange obligations during the month in review," the BSP said in a statement.

The BSP further said the end-December 2019 level of the GIR provides an ample external liquidity buffer that is equivalent to 7.7 months' worth of imports of goods and services and payments of primary income.

It is also equivalent to 5.5 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.3 times based on residual maturity, the BSP added.

The BSP said the country's net international reserves (NIR), which refers to the difference between the BSP's GIR and total short-term liabilities, likewise increased by 1.62 billion U.S. dollars to 87.83 billion U.S. dollars as of end-December 2019 from the end-November 2019 level of 86.21 billion U.S. dollars.