National Bank of Serbia reports January foreign exchange reserves down to EUR 29,018.4 million and EUR 420 million interbank FX sales

The National Bank of Serbia published its January update on foreign exchange reserves and interbank foreign exchange market developments, reporting gross foreign exchange reserves of EUR 29,018.4 million at end-January 2025, down EUR 276.1 million from end-December. Net foreign exchange reserves stood at EUR 24,624.7 million, a EUR 68.6 million month-on-month decrease, while the dinar recorded a 0.1% nominal depreciation against the euro in January. Foreign exchange reserves covered 177.4% of M1 money supply and 7.3 months of imports of goods and services. Reserve outflows reflected net domestic FX market interventions of EUR 275.0 million (EUR 420 million in FX sales, partly offset by EUR 145 million in purchases agreed at end-December and settled in January), banks’ net withdrawal of foreign reserve requirements of EUR 226.0 million, and net state deleveraging related to foreign currency loans and other FX liabilities of EUR 237.3 million. Inflows included EUR 44.5 million from reserve management (interest and coupons) and a net EUR 59.5 million from donations and other bases, while market factors contributed a positive net EUR 358.2 million, linked to a roughly 7.7% rise in the USD gold price and a 0.2% USD appreciation against the euro. Interbank FX trading volume totaled EUR 659.2 million in January, EUR 151.9 million lower than the previous month, with the National Bank of Serbia selling EUR 420.0 million to support relative exchange rate stability amid seasonally higher demand for foreign currency.