OREANDA-NEWS. On the state of gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Republic of Belarus.

The volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Republic of Belarus on the IMF’s SDDS definition decreased by USD334.4 million as at the end of January 2015 and amounted, according to the preliminary data, to USD4,724.7million in the equivalent as of February 1, 2015.

The volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves on the national definition decreased by USD193. 6 million, totaling USD5, 522.4 million in the equivalent as of February 1, 2015.

The decrease in the level of gold and foreign exchange reserves in January 2015 was conditioned by the repayment by the Government and the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus of their external and internal foreign exchange obligations in full.

Revenues from export duties on oil products, placing the foreign exchange obligations of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus in the domestic market of the country, as well as the increase in the price for gold in the international precious metals market were conducive to maintaining the level of gold and foreign exchange reserves.