Azerbaijan’s strategic currency reserves rose by 0.4 percent to $53.4 billion in January-February, due to a rise in oil and gas prices on the world markets, the central bank said.

The country’s strategic reserves include the central bank foreign currency reserves, the State Oil Fund SOFAZ’s assets and the Finance Ministry treasury deposits.

The central bank’s foreign currency reserves rose to $7.158 billion as of February 28, 1.17 percent from the beginning of this year. In February alone, reserves rose by $85.3 million or 1.2 percent.

In 2021, foreign currency reserves grew by 11.1 percent to $7.073 billion.