Belarus’ foreign exchange reserves drop by $1 billion in 2022 – EDB

September 12, BPN. Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves decreased by $960.9 million since the start of 2022, says a weekly report by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).

Earlier, the National Bank reported that Belarus foreign exchange reserves dropped by $97.6 million in August to $7.5 billion on September 1.

The EDB analysts linked the August drop to debt repayment, lower gold prices, and the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), a special tool for IMF payment settlement.

These factors were partly offset by the purchase of $100 million by the National Bank on the internal currency market, after individuals sold the equivalent of $923 million and bought $868.4 million in August.

Under the National Bank’s monetary and credit policy guidelines for 2022, Belarus’ international reserves should amount to at least $7 billion on January 1.