As of the end of August, the National Bank of Serbia’s gross foreign exchange reserves reached a historic high of EUR 28,225.0 million. This marks the largest end-of-month reserve level since the Bank began tracking this data in 2000. Compared to the end of July, the reserves increased by EUR 111.7 million, the central bank announced today.
This level of reserves covers 182.2 percent of the money supply M1 and equates to 7.4 months of imports of goods and services. This coverage is more than double the standard benchmark for import coverage, according to the announcement.
The net foreign exchange reserves, which account for gross reserves minus banks’ foreign currency assets, obligations to the International Monetary Fund, and other liabilities, also reached a record high of EUR 23,984.3 million. This represents an increase of EUR 71.0 million from July’s figures.
In August, inflows into the reserves amounted to EUR 247.8 million, derived from the management of foreign exchange reserves, donations, and other sources. These inflows were sufficient to offset the outflows, which included EUR 134.6 million in net state deleveraging of foreign currency loans, EUR 116.0 million in matured foreign currency securities issued on the domestic market, and EUR 121.6 million from other sources.
The increase in reserves was further supported by a positive net effect from market factors, totaling EUR 1.1 million. This gain was largely due to a 3.6 percent rise in the price of gold and a 2.3 percent decline in the dollar’s value against the euro on international markets. However, the volume of foreign exchange trade on the interbank market in August was EUR 673.9 million, which was EUR 185.2 million lower than the previous month.
For the first eight months of 2024, interbank foreign exchange trading totaled EUR 5,487.1 million. In August, the dinar’s value against the euro remained largely stable, and since the beginning of the year, the dinar has strengthened by 0.1 percent against the euro.
The National Bank of Serbia conducted a net purchase of EUR 280.0 million on the interbank foreign exchange market in August. Since the start of 2024, the Bank has net purchased EUR 1,835.0 million to maintain the relative stability of the dinar’s exchange rate against the euro.
