MANILA, Feb. 8 -- The country's gross international reserves (GIR) amounted to USD103.4 billion as of end-January this year, slightly lower than a year ago's USD103.8 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

In a statement late Wednesday, the BSP said the decline in GIR last month "reflected mainly the National Government's payments of its foreign currency debt obligations and downward valuation adjustments in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' gold holdings due to the decrease in the price of gold in the international market."

The BSP said however the latest GIR level represents more than adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.7 months' worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

By sta...