Business news

MINSK, 7 July (BelTA) – According to the preliminary data, Belarus’ gold and foreign currency reserves totaled $6,561 million as of 1 July 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 June 2017, the country’s gold and foreign currency reserves went up by $1.322 billion (up 25.2%) following the May growth by $0.13 billion (2.5%). The growth from the start of the year made up $1.634 billion (33.1%).

Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves were bolstered thanks to the revenues from $1.4 billion worth of Eurobonds floated by the Belarusian Finance Ministry, and the fourth $300 million tranche of the loan from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development.

The Belarusian government and the National Bank of Belarus honored $343 million worth of domestic and foreign commitments in June. The volume of gold and foreign currency reserves was also affected by the decline in the price for gold on the international market of precious metals.

In 2016, Belarus’ gold and foreign currency reserves rose by $0.751 billion (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.