At the end of January 2025, the gross foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Serbia stood at EUR 29,018.4 million, representing a decrease of EUR 276.1 million compared to December 2024.
This level of foreign exchange reserves ensures 177.4 percent coverage of the money supply (M1) and provides enough reserves to cover 7.3 months of imports of goods and services, which is more than double the standard requirement for adequate coverage of imports with foreign exchange reserves. Net foreign exchange reserves, which are the gross foreign exchange reserves minus the foreign currency assets of banks based on mandatory reserves, obligations to the International Monetary Fund, and other liabilities, amounted to EUR 24,624.7 million at the end of January, a decrease of EUR 68.6 million from December 2024.
Outflows from foreign exchange reserves in January occurred primarily due to interventions by the National Bank of Serbia on the domestic foreign exchange market, amounting to a net outflow of EUR 275 million. This was driven by EUR 420 million in foreign exchange sales, offset by EUR 145 million in inflows from foreign exchange purchases made in the last two days of December 2024, which were settled in January (T+2).
Additional outflows were registered from the withdrawal of foreign currency mandatory reserves by banks, totaling EUR 226 million (a typical occurrence at the beginning of the year after a larger allocation in December), and from the net deleveraging of the state related to foreign currency loans and liabilities, amounting to EUR 237.3 million.
Foreign exchange reserve inflows during January were driven by interest and coupon payments on foreign exchange reserves, totaling EUR 44.5 million, as well as donations and other sources amounting to EUR 59.5 million.
A significant positive net effect of EUR 358.2 million resulted from market movements, including a 7.7% increase in the price of gold in dollars and a 0.2% strengthening of the dollar against the euro.
In January, the total volume of foreign exchange transactions on the interbank foreign exchange market amounted to EUR 659.2 million, which was EUR 151.9 million lower than the previous month.
The dinar weakened nominally by 0.1% against the euro in January. To maintain the stability of the dinar’s exchange rate against the euro, especially during the seasonally high demand for foreign exchange at the beginning of the year, the National Bank of Serbia sold EUR 420 million on the interbank foreign exchange market.
