MINSK, 7 April (BelTA) - According to the preliminary data, Belarus' gold and foreign currency reserves totaled $6.940 billion as of 1 April 2021, BelTA learned from the Information and PR Department of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus.
In March 2021, the country's gold and foreign currency reserves went down by $174.5 million (or 2.5%), following the February reduction by $88.9 million (or 1.2%).
“The decrease in the volume of the gold and foreign exchange reserves in March 2021 was mainly due to the planned repayment by the government and the National Bank of Belarus of foreign and domestic obligations in foreign currency in the amount of over $310 million, and also due to the decrease in the cost of monetary gold,” the National Bank said.
In March 2021 the level of gold and foreign exchange reserves was maintained thanks to the foreign currency budget revenue, including revenues from selling government bonds nominated in foreign currency by the Finance Ministry and the purchase of foreign currency by the National Bank via the Belarusian Currency Stock Exchange.
According to the country's main monetary guidelines for 2021, the volume of international reserve assets is expected to make up at least $6 billion on 1 January 2022.
