MINSK, 25 March (BelTA) - Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus Roman Golovchenko commented on the future dynamics of gold and foreign exchange reserves in an interview with the Bankawski Vesnik [Bank News] magazine, BelTA has learned.
“As of 1 March 2026, Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves once again reached a historic record, amounting to $16.4 billion. In global practice, the safe level of gold and foreign exchange reserves is generally considered to be an amount covering three months of imports of goods and services. In Belarus, this figure currently stands at 3.7 months of imports. This allows us to say that the country’s reserves are at a level sufficient to ensure macroeconomic stability. With such a volume of reserves, part of them can be used to finance the most important, strategically significant investment projects. This is already being done. Of course, such financing is exceptional and targeted, since the main functions of gold and foreign exchange reserves are to maintain confidence in monetary policy and the national currency, ensure the resilience of the economy to external shocks, and honor external obligations,” Roman Golovchenko said.
Monetary gold accounts for a significant portion of the reserves. "But the price of gold may decline, and this is taken into account in forecasts and plans for the use of reserves. The current forecasts do not anticipate a drop in gold prices, meaning no significant reduction in gold and foreign exchange reserves is expected,” the head of the National Bank noted.
“As of 1 March 2026, Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves once again reached a historic record, amounting to $16.4 billion. In global practice, the safe level of gold and foreign exchange reserves is generally considered to be an amount covering three months of imports of goods and services. In Belarus, this figure currently stands at 3.7 months of imports. This allows us to say that the country’s reserves are at a level sufficient to ensure macroeconomic stability. With such a volume of reserves, part of them can be used to finance the most important, strategically significant investment projects. This is already being done. Of course, such financing is exceptional and targeted, since the main functions of gold and foreign exchange reserves are to maintain confidence in monetary policy and the national currency, ensure the resilience of the economy to external shocks, and honor external obligations,” Roman Golovchenko said.
Monetary gold accounts for a significant portion of the reserves. "But the price of gold may decline, and this is taken into account in forecasts and plans for the use of reserves. The current forecasts do not anticipate a drop in gold prices, meaning no significant reduction in gold and foreign exchange reserves is expected,” the head of the National Bank noted.
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