Depreciation of euro did not seriously affect foreign exchange reserves, NBM

The depreciation of the European common currency against the US dollar did not seriously affect the foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM). At the beginning of last year, one euro cost US$1.35, while towards the end of the year – US$1.29, central bank governor Dorin Dragutanu said in a news conference, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. ”Owing to this depreciation, the assets denominated in euro and recalculated in dollars were lower, but this is not actual depreciation as there were no real losses. At the end of the year, the National Bank’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$1.96 billion. But the next days we will witness a record level of the foreign exchange reserves, of over US$2 billion, after the IMF disburses the tranche of US$77 million,” said the governor. Asked if the central bank will change the structure of the foreign exchange reserves depending on the evolution of the European common currency, Dorin Dragutanu said the temporary volatility on the currency market cannot affect the structure of the reserves. “The central banks are rather prudent when they take decisions to modify the structure of the foreign exchange reserves or when changing a part of them into a new currency. We did not modify the structure of the reserves as this volatility is temporary. In fact, I recommend other participants in the currency market not to hurry to change their savings into other currencies and to thoroughly analyze the situation before doing it,” stated the governor. As to keeping a part of the foreign exchange reserves in gold, the governor said that after the State Treasury was liquidated, the National Bank took over a certain quantity of gold from the Ministry of Finance, which managed the Treasury. ”This gold was already refined in monetary gold of the 999 hallmark, which is the highest quality. It is still the property of the Ministry of Finance. When it is transferred under the ownership of the Central Bank, we will state this in our reports. But this quantity of gold is insignificant. The gold does not bring profit immediately. There are restrictions on its sale. Thus, things should be analyzed carefully before taking a decision. Our goal is to have liquid and safe foreign exchange reserves,” said Dorin Dragutanu.