MANILA - The Philippines' gross international reserves (GIR) reached a record $41.312 billion as of end-August, slightly higher than $40.169 billion at end-July, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Tuesday.

According to the BSP, the current GIR level could cover 7.1 months of imports of goods and payments of services and income. It was also equal to 6.6 times the country's short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.3 times based on residual maturity.

The BSP attributed the rise to the special drawing rights (SDR) made available by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the Philippines and other member countries to boost their reserves and provide liquidity to the global economic system.

"Other factors contributing to the increase in the reserves level were inflows from the BSP's net foreign exchange operations and income from investments abroad," BSP said in a statement.

Likewise, the country's net international reserves (NIR) increased to $40.5 billion as of end-August from the previous month's $39.3 billion. NIR refers to the difference between the BSP's GIR and total short-term liabilities.

Despite this, the Philippines still ranks among countries with the lowest reserve levels in Asia, outpacing only Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The BSP had expected the country's GIR to rise to only $38.5 billion this year from $37.55 at the end of 2008. Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers, which continue to grow amid the economic slump, helped boost the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Earlier, BSP governor Amando Tetangco said its flat growth forecast for remittances this year is becoming more conservative as inflows continue to hold up amid the global downturn. With a report from Reuters