Business news

MINSK, 6 October (BelTA) – According to the preliminary data, Belarus’ gold and foreign currency reserves totaled $7,266 million as of 1 October 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 September 2017, the country’s gold and foreign currency reserves went up by $273.1 million (up 3.9%) following the August growth by $328.8 million (4.9%). The growth from the start of the year made up $2,339.5 billion (47.5%).

Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves were bolstered thanks to the budget revenues, including thanks to the state financial loan from the government of the Russian Federation, export duties on oil and oil products, an increased cost of the monetary gold, and revenues from selling government bonds nominated in foreign currency by the central bank.

The Belarusian government and the National Bank of Belarus honored about $450 million worth of domestic and foreign commitments in September.

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.