Banca Naţională a României

Against the background of the full payment of the foreign public debt service, the forex reserves of the NBR amounted to USD 2,158.2 million on 31 August 2000.

In august, the forex reserves declined by USD 15.8 million as a result of the following operations:

• inflows of USD 21.5 million from the sale of foreign-exchange denominated government securities issued by the Ministry of Finance on the domestic market;

• a USD 19.2 million borrowing from the World Bank;

• principal and interest payments falling due, worth USD 45.1 million, on foreign public debt, direct and bearing the sovereign guarantee of the Ministry of Finance;

• net sales of the central bank in the foreign exchange market amounting to USD 34.1 million;

• other net inflows in amount of USD 22.7 million (change in foreign exchange required reserves set up by commercial banks, interest on investments, surrender of foreign exchange to official reserves, fees and bank commissions a.s.o.).

The gold stock moved up to 104.4 tons, but following the developments in the gold price on international markets, its value decreased to USD 922.6 million, taking the NBR’s international reserves (gold included) to almost USD 3.1 billion.

The payments on foreign public debt, direct and bearing the sovereign guarantee of the Ministry of Finance, falling due by the end of 2000 run at USD 252 million.

The National Bank of Romania is further striving to consolidate its reserve assets and service the foreign public debt on time.