Business news

MINSK, 6 November (BelTA) - According to the preliminary data, Belarus’ gold and foreign currency reserves totaled $7,107.6 million as of 1 November 2018, 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 October 2018, the country’s gold and foreign currency reserves went up by $181.3 million (up 2.6%) following the September reduction by $320 million (4.4%).

In October 2018 Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves were bolstered thanks to the budget revenues, including export duties on oil and oil products, the tranche of the loan from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, and revenues from selling government bonds nominated in foreign currency by the central bank and the Finance Ministry, the purchase of foreign currency by the National Bank via the Belarusian Currency Stock Exchange. The country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves also strengthened due to an increase in the cost of the monetary gold.

The National Bank and the government of the Republic of Belarus honored the foreign and domestic obligations in foreign currency in the amount of about $290 million in October 2018.

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 1 January 2019.