As of the end of February 2024, Serbia’s gross foreign exchange reserves remained consistent at EUR 25,031.4 million, with only marginal changes compared to the preceding month, as reported by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS). In comparison to January’s conclusion, the gross reserves saw a slight reduction of EUR 5.5 million.
This reserve level currently secures a robust coverage of 178.6% of the M1 money supply and sustains 6.7 months of imports of goods and services, surpassing the standard for adequate import coverage by more than double.
Net foreign exchange reserves rose to EUR 20,806.3 million, reflecting an increase of EUR 125.9 million compared to the end of January.
In February, the primary contributor to the surge in foreign exchange reserves was attributed to NBS interventions, involving net purchases of currency in the domestic foreign exchange market. Additional inflows were derived from effective foreign exchange reserve management, donations, and other sources, totaling EUR 87.9 million.
The NBS underscored that the decline in gross foreign exchange reserves during February was primarily influenced by the state’s net repayment of foreign exchange loans and securities, along with other foreign exchange obligations, amounting to EUR 399 million. Concurrently, outflows for other reasons totaled EUR 77.5 million.
Despite the overall net inflows surpassing outflows, the dip in gross foreign exchange reserves was affected by market dynamics, resulting in a net negative effect of EUR 51.9 million. This was predominantly influenced by a 0.3% decrease in gold prices and a 0.1% weakening of the dollar against the euro on the international market.
Furthermore, the NBS highlighted that the value of the dinar against the euro remained virtually unchanged throughout February. From the beginning of 2024, the central bank conducted net purchases of EUR 300 million in the interbank foreign exchange market to uphold relative stability in the dinar-to-euro exchange rate.
