RP forex reserves at $24.37B as of end-Feb

The Philippines' gross international reserves hit another record-high of $24.37 billion at the end of February 2007, boosted by proceeds from program loans and foreign exchange operations by the central bank. "The increase in reserves was traced to several factors including the National Government’s deposit of the proceeds from its program loans from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, as well as BSP’s foreign exchange operations and income from investments abroad," the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement released Wednesday. The BSP said the inflows were partly offset by payments made by both the government and the central bank on maturing obligations. The February GIR level is $680 million higher than the end-January 2007 level of $23.69 billion. "In terms of reserve adequacy, the end-February 2007 GIR level could cover about 4.7 months of imports of goods and payments of services and income," the BSP said.-GMANews.TV