NBS gross FX reserves reach record-high 24.388 bln euros at end-October

BELGRADE - Increasing by 206.2 mln euros in October, gross National Bank of Serbia (NBS) FX reserves reached 24,388.7 mln euros at end-October, their highest end-of-month level since records began in 2000.

"They covered 181.9 pct of money supply M1 and 6.5 months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and services, which is more than twice the level prescribed by the adequacy standard.

Net FX reserves (gross FX reserves less banks’ FX balances on account of required reserves, liabilities to the IMF under SBA, and other grounds) also touched their all-time end-of-month high - 20,253.7 mln euros, having increased by 290.1 mln euros from end-September.

The October increase in gross FX reserves primarily reflects the NBS’s FX purchases in the local FX market (inflow of 160.0 mln euros). Inflows also came from net allocation of banks’ FX reserve requirements (65.4 mln euros) and other sources (10.5 mln euros net)," the NBS said in a statement.

"These inflows were more than sufficient to cover the outflows on account of the settlement of government FX liabilities – net repayment of loans and other liabilities (222.0 mln euros in total).

In October, FX reserves also benefited from the positive effect of market factors in the net amount of 192.3 mln euros, largely a result of the hike in gold prices by around 6.8 pct, while the weakening of the US dollar against the euro by around 0.2 pct in the international market worked in the opposite direction.

Trading volumes in the IFEM amounted to 762.1 mln euros in October, up by 300.1 mln euros from the month before. In the first ten months of 2023, IFEM trading volumes totalled 6,410.2 mln euros," it said.