The foreign exchange reserves held by Romania's National Bank (BNR) went down to EUR 32.6 billion at the end of September, from EUR 35.8 bln at the end of August.

The EUR 3.2 bln drop was mainly due to the repayment of EUR 2.1 bln Eurobonds issued by the Government in 2013 that matured last month.

According to BNR, the total outflows reached EUR 3.84 bln in September, including EUR 2.17 bln payments related to the public debt service.

The level of the gold reserve remained at 103.6 tons.

Given the evolutions of international prices, its value stood at EUR 5.36 bln.

In total, Romania's international reserves (currencies plus gold) were EUR 38.0 bln, down from EUR 41.3 bln on August 31, 2020.

At end-July 2020 (latest data available), the foreign exchange reserves covered 81.4% of the short-term external debt by remaining maturity, compared to 73.8% at end-2019.

The international reserves also covered 5.9 months of imports at end-July 2020, compared to 4.6 months at end-2019.

(Photo: Maximusnd/ Dreamstime)

andrei@romania-insider.com