Central bank’s net foreign-currency assets down 7.4 percent in 2022

December 15, BPN. The National Bank of Belarus has reported a decrease in its net foreign-currency assets by 1.4 billion rubels (about $559 million) to 18 billion rubels (about $7.2 billion) on December 1.

The central bank’s claims against government agencies soared from 198 million rubels in January to 3.8 billion ($1.5 billion at the market rate on December 1) in December, while liabilities to government agencies fell by 7.4 percent to 12.4 billion rubels ($4.9 billion).

Cash in circulation increased by 40 percent to 6.4 billion rubels ($2.6 billion).

Under the bank’s monetary and credit policy guidelines for 2022, Belarus’ international reserves should amount to at least $7 billion on January 1, 2023.

Gold and foreign exchange reserves are projected to amount to at least $6 billion by the end of 2023, according to the new monetary and credit policy guidelines adopted in November.