Business news

MINSK, 7 July (BelTA) – According to the preliminary data, Belarus’ gold and foreign currency reserves totaled $6,664 million as of 1 August 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 July 2017, the country’s gold and foreign currency reserves went up by $103.8 million (up 1.6%) following the June growth by $1.322 billion (25.2%). The growth from the start of the year made up $1.737 billion (35.3%).

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

The Belarusian government and the National Bank of Belarus honored $533 million worth of domestic and foreign commitments in July.

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.