Serbia’s FX reserves stand at EUR 10.9 bln at end-August

BELGRADE - The foreign exchange (FX) reserves of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) amounted to EUR 10,949.2 million at the end of August, covering M1 by 304 percent and more than seven months of imports of goods and services.

The largest inflow to FX reserves, EUR 748.3 million, came from the disbursement of a loan from the United Arab Emirates, the NBS said in a release on Friday.

Other inflows included the sale of euro-denominated government securities in the domestic financial market (EUR 63.1 million), banks' higher allocations under FX reserve requirements (EUR 35.8 million, net) and disbursement of loans and grants (EUR 21.0 million).

Larger outflows were caused by foreign debt servicing (EUR 67.7 million) and settlement of liabilities under frozen FX savings (EUR 15.0 million).

Net FX reserves, defined as FX reserves less banks' required reserves and drawings from the IMF, came at EUR 8,090.0 million.

Trading volume in the International Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) amounted to EUR 456.7 million, down EUR 125.8 million from the month before. In the year to August, IFEM trading volume totaled EUR 3,540.2 million.

In August, the Serbian dinar depreciated against the euro by 0.9 percent in nominal terms, and the NBS intervened in the IFEM by selling EUR 60 million in order to ease excessive short-term volatility of the exchange rate, according to the release from the NBS Governor's Office.

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