Belarusians Are Rushing To Currency Exchangers

To exchange dollars and euros.

The active sale of foreign currency by Belarusians in February allowed the National Bank to support gold and foreign exchange reserves, experts of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) note. This helped to cover the losses from the fall in gold prices in the world market. Recall that over the past month of the year, gold reserves increased by 125.1 million dollars — to 8,218.6 million. This figure decreased in two previous months and the February growth could not cover the fall in January and December, Zerkalo writes.

"The increase [the gold and foreign currency reserves in February - Ed.) was provided by an increase in reserve assets in foreign currency by $146.2 million. At the same time, the value of gold in reserves decreased by $10.7 million over the month due to a slight decrease in the price," the EDB said.

Experts explain that the growth of foreign exchange reserves became possible due to the currency that the population handed over to exchangers in February.

"Reserves grew against the backdrop of the net supply of foreign currency in the domestic foreign exchange market of $37 million, formed largely by the net sale of foreign currency by the population of $168 million in February compared to the net purchase of $14 million a month earlier," the EDB said.

Simply put, Belarusians sold 168 million more currencies to banks in February than they bought. In January, the situation was the opposite: they bought $14 million more than they sold.

Since the beginning of this year, Belarusian gold and foreign exchange reserves have grown by $91.2 million.

Recall that in 2023, gold reserves increased by 197.9 million dollars to 8 billion 127.4 million. Among the reasons is the rise in the price of gold.

The authorities plans that at the end of 2024, the gold reserves should amount to at least $6 billion. The National Bank of Belarus previously stated that, together with the government, it intends to continue working to maintain the gold reserves, which "will contribute to improving the country's economic security and ensuring financial stability."