Net foreign direct investments increased due to positive foreign investor sentiment on the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals and strong growth prospects. FDIs rose 52.2 percent to USD 9.2 billion from January to November 2021. This bodes well for job creation. The gross international reserves (GIR), which stood at $ billion as of end-January 2022, continue to provide more than adequate external liquidity buffer.
The GIR level is equivalent to almost 10.2 months worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. This far exceeds the three-month conventional reserve level considered as adequate. It is also about 8.4 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.7 times based on residual maturity.