Page 20 - BELRptMar19

5.2.2 Gross international reserves
Belarus' gold and foreign currency reserves totalled $7,017.7mn as of 1 February 2019 , if calculated in accordance with methods of the International Monetary Fund, according to the preliminary data from the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus.
In January 2019, the country's gold and foreign currency reserves went down by $139.9mn (or 2%). In January 2019, the National Bank and the government of the Republic of Belarus honoured the foreign and domestic obligations in foreign currency in the amount of about $650mn.
Belarus' gold and foreign exchange reserves were bolstered thanks to the budget revenues, including export duties on oil and oil products, the increased cost of monetary gold, revenues from selling government bonds nominated in foreign currency by the central bank.
According to the country's main monetary guidelines for 2019, the volume of international reserve assets is expected to make up at least $7.1bn on 1 January 2020.
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Belarus' gold reserves rose by 1 tonne in 2018 to total 41.2 tonnes on 1 January 2019, the National Bank of Belarus said on January 29. The gold reserves comprise precious metals in the form of bank bullion bars. They are managed by the country's central bank and are part of the state fund of precious metals and precious stones of Belarus. “Availability of gold reserves supports the confidence of residents and non-residents of Belarus in the National Bank and the government's ability to meet the financial obligations and to conduct a monetary policy,” the National Bank said. Countries across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have been stockpiling bullion in defence again future economic crises.
20 BELARUS Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com