Business news

MINSK, 7 September (BelTA) – According to the preliminary data, Belarus’ gold and foreign currency reserves totaled $6,993 million as of 1 September 2017, if calculated in accordance with methods of the International Monetary Fund, BelTA learned from the Information and PR Department of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus.

In August 2017, the country’s gold and foreign currency reserves went up by $328.8 million (up 4.9%) following the July growth by $103.8 million (1.6%). The growth from the start of the year made up $2.066 billion (42%).

Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves were bolstered thanks to the revenues from export duties on oil and oil products, an increase in the volume of foreign currency on the banks’ correspondent accounts in the National Bank, an increased cost of the monetary gold, revenues from selling government bonds nominated in foreign currency by the central bank, and also foreign currency purchases by the regulator via the Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange.

The Belarusian government and the National Bank of Belarus honored $135 million worth of domestic and foreign commitments in August.

In 2016, Belarus’ gold and foreign currency reserves rose by $751 million (18%) to $4.927 billion as of 1 January 2017. The country’s monetary policy for 2017 envisages the growth of gold and forex reserves by at least $500 million.

The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus plans to ramp up the gold and forex reserves up to $8-8.5 billion by 2020.