Belarus' gold, forex reserves up to $6.65bn in December in IMF terms

– According to provisional data, as of 1 January 2014 Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves totaled the equivalent of $6,650.9 million in line with standards of the International Monetary Fund, up by $192.2 million in December 2013, representatives of the Information and Public Relations Office of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus told BelTA.

In national terms the gold and foreign exchange reserves amounted to the equivalent of $7,236.1 million as of 1 January 2014, up by $193.7 million.

The source attributed the increase in the gold and foreign exchange reserves to the floatation of forex bonds by the Belarusian Finance Ministry on the domestic market, the conversion of non-reserve assets to the reserve ones, and the acquisition of the first part of the Russian loan. At the same time in December 2013 the National Bank and the Belarus government honored their foreign and domestic obligations in foreign currency in full. Among other things Belarus transferred money to honor its obligation to repay a standby loan taken from the International Monetary Fund.

As of 1 January 2013 Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves amounted to the equivalent of $8,095 million in IMF terms. In national terms the reserves stood at $8,763.1 million.