As of the end of December 2023, the official reserve assets amounted to $5.45 billion, by $293.43 million more from November.
The National Bank attributes the increase to several factors. One is the loans totaling $94.17 million offered by the IMF under the ECF and EFF arrangements. Also, the Ministry of Finance received $75.73 million in non-refundable budget support from the European Commission, intended for the Energy Vulnerability Reduction Fund.
The increase in official reserve assets was also due to $43.14 million in budget support offered by the French Development Agency for the development of the energy sector. The Ministry of Finance also registered other entries in the budget support accounts, totaling $1.06 million.
Another increment factor was the appreciation of the exchange rates of the component currencies of foreign reserves against the US dollar ($23.44 million). There were net inflows related to the mandatory foreign exchange reserves of licensed banks ($20.75 million), and also revenues from the management of foreign exchange reserves ($18.84 million). The securities held in the investment portfolio were revalued ($13.34 million).
At the same time, during the reporting period, the decrease in official reserve assets was due to payments related to the external public debt service of the Republic of Moldova in the amount of 19.51 million dollars, as well as by the payments of the Ministry of Finance - 6.40 million US dollars .
