Georgia’s National Bank said its total reserves rose to $4.136 billion as of May 1, up from $4.101 billion a month earlier and from $3.477 billion a year ago.

The bank’s foreign currency reserves totalled $3.927 on May 1, up from $3.894 on April 1 this year and from $3.280 billion on May 1, 2020.

The National Bank sold $242.9 million in currency auctions since the beginning of this year, in a move to support the Georgian lari currency. Last year the bank sold $873.2 million on the market as lari had been depreciating throughout the year to 3.2766 to the U.S. dollar on December 31, 2020, from 2.8661 on January 1, 2020.

The Georgian lari traded at 3.4174 to the U.S. dollar on Monday.