The official reserve assets at end-August were US$4.1 billion, an increase of US$457.27 million compared with the end of June, IPN reports, with reference to the National Bank of Moldova.

The rise was determined by the disbursement of US$154.05 million in budget support by the institutions of the World Bank, of which US$143.41 million was provided within the Emergency Response, Resilience and Competitiveness Development Policy Operation. The increase was also influenced by the net interventions on the domestic currency market in the form of currency purchases ($108.7m).

The assets also rose due to the disbursement by the European Commission, in the name of the EU, of US$127.08 million in budget support in favor of the Ministry of Finance. This is the second tranche of grant in the amount of US$76.28 million for supporting the vulnerable population affected by the higher prices of energy and for alleviating the economic pressure associated with the flow of Ukrainian refugees. The inflows related to the required foreign currency reserves of the licensed banks ($74.71m) are another factor that contributed to the rise.

In the period, the depreciation of the exchange rates of the component currencies of foreign exchange reserves against the US dollar ($26.21m) influenced the official reserve assets down. The decrease was also due to payments made to service Moldova’s external public debt ($15.9m), to the Ministry of Finance’ s payments ($6.05m), to the reassessment of securities maintained in the investment portfolio ($0.96m) and to net outflows from the account of the Office for the Management of External Assistance Programs ($0.79m).