THE Philippines’ gross international reserves (GIR) rose to a 29-month high of $83.198 billion in March, a development the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) attributed to its foreign exchange operations and investment income plus foreign currency deposits by the government.

The figure — the largest since October 2016’s $85.105 billion — was also 0.50 percent and 3.33 percent higher, respectively, from February and a year ago, preliminary data released on Friday showed.