Serbian central bank: FX reserves at record high in November

They covered 179.7 percent of money supply M1 and 7.3 months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and services, which is more than twice the level prescribed by the adequacy standard.

Net FX reserves (gross FX reserves less banks’ FX balances on account of required reserves, liabilities to the IMF under the arrangement, and liabilities on other grounds) came at 24,456.9 mn euros - the highest end-of-month level, up by 423.4 mn euros from the month before.

The greatest inflows to FX reserves in November, worth 265 mn euros net, originated from NBS interventions, i.e. purchases in the domestic FX market. Net inflows also came from FX reserves management, banks’ allocation of FX required reserves, grants and other sources, in the amount of 102.7 mn euros, said the NBS.

It emphasized that the inflows were more than sufficient to compensate for the outflows recorded on account of the government’s debt repayment in respect of FX loans and other FX liabilities (219.2 mn euros).

FX reserves were also propped up by a significant positive net effect of market factors worth 268.1 mn euros, mainly reflecting the dollar’s appreciation against the euro by around 2.7 percent in the international market, said the Serbian central bank.

Trading volumes in the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) came at 756.3 mn euros in November, down by 75.3 mn euros from October. In the first eleven months of the year, trading volumes in the IFEM totaled 7,796.6 mn euros.

The dinar gained 0.1 percent against the euro nominally in November, and 0.2 percent since the start of the year.

The NBS bought 325 mn euros in the IFEM in November. Since the beginning of the year, the NBS bought 2,315 mn euros net, in order to maintain the relative stability of the dinar against the euro.