As of end-January 2009, the balance of payments yielded a surplus of $ billion while our gross international reserves stood at $ billion. The current GIR level is sufficient to cover six months of imports of goods and payments of services and income, double the international standard of three months and three times the size of debt falling due within a year.
•  The banking system sustained its asset expansion with total resources growing by 9.8% to reach P5.6 trillion as of end-November 2008. Among bank assets, loans (gross, and exclusive of interbank loans) posted a significant growth of 23.5%. This asset expansion was supported by a continued rise in deposit base which registered a 15.9% growth as of end November 2008.