Romania’s international reserves break EUR 50 bln threshold for the first time

Romania’s international reserves broke the EUR 50 bln threshold for the first time ever, reaching a total value of EUR 51.78 bln at the end of October, a EUR 2.48 bln increase from September, Ziarul Financiar reported.

International reserves are funds that central banks exchange with one another. The reserves are kept either in gold or in major currencies like the US dollar or the euro. By comparison, Hungary’s international reserves stood at EUR 38.74 bln in September 2022. Bulgaria’s foreign reserves amounted to EUR 36.8 bln in the same period.

Roughly EUR 46.29 bln of the total reserves kept at the National Bank of Romania (BNR) is made up of foreign currencies. BNR registered inflows of EUR 3.63 bln only in the month of October. The sum represents the minimum level of reserves that credit institutions such as banks have to have as a backup, but also the accounts of the Romanian Ministry of Finance, which includes an installment of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), according to Ziarul Financiar. The installment, received by Romania from the European Commission, amounts to EUR 2.56 bln.

There were also outflows of EUR 1.05 bln from BNR, representing changes in the amount of reserves that banks keep at the national bank, as well as interest payments for Romania’s public debt. In November, Romania will have to make payments connected to its public debt of approximately EUR 2 bln.

Romania’s gold reserve remained unchanged at 103.6 tons in the recent period. At the moment, the gold reserves are priced at EUR 5.49 bln.

(Photo source: Romolo Tavani | Dreamstime)