Banca Naţională a României

At end-October 2007, foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Romania amounted to EUR 25,211 million.

The EUR 4.1 million increase in the month under review owed to the following:

• EUR 532.1 million worth of inflows comprising the change in the foreign-exchange reserve requirements of commercial banks, incomes from international reserve management, a.s.o.;
• EUR 528 million worth of outflows consisting in principal repayments and interest payments on public and publicly guaranteed external debt, the change in foreign-exchange reserve requirements of commercial banks, a.s.o.

In October, the gold reserve was redefined. Thus, according to international provisions it must include only standard gold¹. As a result, the gold stock diminished from 104.7 tonnes to 103.7 tonnes. Nevertheless, following the developments in the world price of gold, its value went up to EUR 1,806.8 million, taking the international reserves of the National Bank of Romania (foreign exchange and gold) to EUR 27 billion.

By end-2007, payments due on public and publicly guaranteed external debt amount to EUR 186 million.

1.   In accordance with the decision taken by the NBR Board, the central bank's gold reserve comprises only standard bullions and bars with purity of at least 995? and gold coins with purity of at least 900?. The remaining gold is managed separately by the National Bank of Romania.