NBS: FX reserves total EUR 10.42 billion at end-March

BELGRADE - Serbia's foreign exchange (FX) reserves amounted to EUR 10,428.3 million at end-March, covering M1 money supply by 335 percent or more than seven months of imports of goods and services, the Naktional Bank of Serbia (NBS) said in a release on Friday.

Major inflow to FX reserves in March came from the sale of euro-denominated securities in the domestic financial market (EUR 116.9 million), the NBS said.

Outflows from FX reserves were mostly due to settlement of liabilities to foreign creditors (EUR 141.8 million), payment of due euro-denominated government bonds (EUR 101.4 million), withdrawal of banks' required FX reserves (EUR 70.1 million net) and repayment of debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (EUR 64.5 million).

Net FX reserves, defined as FX reserves less banks' required reserves and drawings from the IMF, came at EUR 7,047.0 million.

Trading volume in the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) reached EUR 443.9 million, up by EUR 32.9 million against the month before. In the first quarter of 2014, IFEM trading volume totalled EUR 1,423.3 million.

The Serbian dinar appreciated against the euro by 0.5 percent in nominal terms in March, and the NBS intervened in the IFEM by buying EUR 20 million and selling EUR 210 million to ease excessive short-term volatility of the domestic currency.

Photo Tanjug/M. Jelesijević