Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves decreased by $1.1 billion in March. A decline in gold prices interrupted the string of records observed in recent months. According to the National Bank of Belarus, as of April 1 the reserves stood at $15.24 billion.
The decrease in reserves in March was mainly due to a reduction in the value of monetary gold included in them, although other components of the reserves also declined.
The value of gold included in the reserves fell by $1.05 billion in March, to $7.98 billion. The value of special drawing rights decreased by $11.9 million to $1.4 billion, while reserve assets in foreign currency declined by $58.5 million to $5.86 billion. The reserve position in the IMF and other assets, amounting to $0.03 billion and $0.1 billion respectively, remained unchanged.
Despite the decline in March, the reserves remain $819.1 million higher than at the beginning of the year. In particular, the value of monetary gold has increased by $513.2 million compared to January 1, while foreign currency reserve assets have grown by $317.8 million.
