According to the preliminary data, Belarus’ gold and foreign currency reserves totaled $7,315 million as of January 1, if calculated in accordance with methods of the International Monetary Fund, the Information and PR Department of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus reported.
In December 2017, the country’s gold and foreign currency reserves went down by $98.4 million (1.3%) following the November growth by $18.4 million (0.2%). The Belarusian government and the National Bank of Belarus honored more than $501 million worth of domestic and foreign commitments in December 2017. Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves were bolstered thanks to the budget revenues, including revenues from selling government bonds nominated in foreign currency by the central bank and the Finance Ministry, export duties on oil and oil products, and an increased cost of the monetary gold.
The country’s monetary policy for 2017 envisaged the growth of gold and forex reserves by at least $500 million. On the whole, the growth of gold and forex reserves made up 2.388 billion (48.5%). The major factors behind the growth of the gold and forex reserves in 2017 were the revenues from selling government bonds nominated in foreign currency by the central bank and the Finance Ministry, export duties on oil and oil products, the purchase of foreign currency by the National Bank via the Belarusian Currency Stock Exchange, tranches of the financial loan from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, the loan from the government of the Russian Federation, and an increased cost of the monetary gold. According to the country’s main monetary guidelines for 2018 the volume of international reserve assets, taking into account the honoring of domestic and foreign commitments in foreign currency should reach at least $6 billion on January 1, 2019. (BelTA/Business World Magazine)