DOLLAR RESERVES. A bank teller shows off dollar bills. Photo from AFP

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) disclosed that the country's gross international reserves (GIR) hit a record high of US$84.248 billion in 2012.

BSP data showed that the country's GIR was higher by $8.9 billion or 11.8% than 2011's $75.3 billion.

"The end-December 2012 GIR level can cover 12.1 months worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income. It was equivalent to 10.5 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.8 times based on residual maturity," the BSP said.

The BSP attributed the increase in the GIR to higher deposits by the national government and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation from their bond issuances and other borrowings.

The Central Bank also said the increase in the GIR stemmed from higher inflows from its foreign exchange operations and investment income.

"These inflows were partially offset, however, by foreign exchange outflows for the payments by the national government and the BSP for their maturing foreign exchange obligations, foreign currency withdrawals by authorised agent banks and revaluation losses on the BSP's foreign currency-denominated reserves," the BSP said. - Rappler.com