National Bank of Serbia reports record end-May foreign exchange reserves of EUR 29.9 billion

The National Bank of Serbia published its May reserve data showing gross foreign exchange reserves at a record EUR 29,882.1 million at end-May, up EUR 1,725.8 million from end-April. Net foreign exchange reserves also reached a record, rising by EUR 1,793.3 million to EUR 25,418.8 million. The stock of reserves covered 167.5% of M1 and 6.9 months of imports of goods and services. The main driver of the increase was the sale of Serbian government securities on international financial markets, including three eurobonds, two in EUR and one in USD, which brought in EUR 2,907.6 million. Additional inflows came from National Bank of Serbia interventions through net foreign currency purchases of EUR 90.0 million, of which EUR 45.0 million had been agreed at end-April and settled in May, and from reserve management, donations and other sources totaling a net EUR 120.6 million. These were partly offset by EUR 1,338.8 million of outflows linked to state foreign currency debt repayment, partial early repayment of the remaining debt on eurobonds maturing in 2027, maturing domestic securities and other foreign currency liabilities, as well as net withdrawals of banks' foreign currency required reserves of EUR 73.6 million. Gold reserves, which form part of total reserves, rose to a record 54,314.3 kilograms worth EUR 6,818.1 million, or 22.8% of gross reserves, after the central bank bought 351.3 kilograms on the domestic market from Serbia Zijin Copper. On the interbank foreign exchange market, turnover was EUR 755.8 million in May, the dinar was almost unchanged against the euro, and the central bank was a net buyer of EUR 45.0 million in the month, while remaining a net seller of EUR 1,160.0 million since the start of 2026.