Belarus’s international reserves, which include gold and foreign currency, declined by $36.8 million or 0.4 percent in September and amounted to $8.460 billion as of October 1, the central bank said.

In August 2021, gold and foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.054 billion after increasing by $33 million in July.

“The decrease in the level of international reserve assets in September was mainly due to the planned repayment by the government of external and internal liabilities in foreign currency in the amount of about $240 million, as well as a decrease in the cost of monetary gold. purchase of foreign currency by the National Bank at the auctions of the Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange,” the bank said in a statement.

According to the main directions of monetary policy for 2021, the volume of international reserve assets should be at least $6 billion by the end of this year.