Banca Naţională a României

At end-June 2004, foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Romania amounted to EUR 7,763.1 million.

The EUR 491.5 million expansion in June 2004 was the result of the following:

• EUR 179.6 million inflows from the privatisation of Banca Comercială Română (BCR);
• EUR 429.8 million worth of purchases by the central bank from the forex market;
• EUR 7 million worth of incomes from international reserve management;
• EUR 157.4 million worth of principal repayments and payment of interest on external public debt, direct and bearing the guarantee of the Ministry of Public Finance;
• EUR 32.5 million in other net inflows (change in the foreign-exchange required reserves deposited by commercial banks, surrenders to official forex reserves, bank fees and commissions, membership quotas, a. s. o.).

The gold stock stayed put at 105.1 tonnes, but following the developments in the world price of gold its value increased to EUR 1,096.9 million, leaving the international reserves of the National Bank of Romania (foreign currency and gold) to over EUR 8.86 billion.

By end-2004, payments due on external public debt, direct and bearing the guarantee of the Ministry of Public Finance, amount to EUR 682 million.