Central Bank’s Reserves Decrease by $255 Million in One Month

The Central Bank's international reserves, primarily expressed in foreign currency, are rapidly depleting. This is reported by 168.am.

“In just one month, they decreased by $255 million, or more than 11 percent. Against a backdrop of $2.249 billion on December 2, the Central Bank’s foreign reserves have fallen to $1.994 billion this January.

This represents a significant decline over such a short period. It is unclear where this money has gone. It is a fact that these reserves are typically used to meet the country's foreign currency demand, whether in the external or internal sectors.

The reduction in the Central Bank's international reserves is, in fact, influenced by the need to satisfy demand in the domestic currency market. There is a deterioration in the balance of foreign currency flows, which has increased pressure on the national currency. Recently, this has manifested particularly in the strengthening of the dollar's position.

For quite some time, the price of the American currency has been hovering around 490 drams. How it will behave in the future remains to be seen.

In any case, one thing is clear: although it is too early to talk about a significant decline of the dram against the dollar at this stage, recent developments indicate that the factors affecting it are not favorable for the national currency. Currency pressure in the domestic market has increased due to low activity in foreign currency inflows, coupled with an accelerated growth of outflows,” the website reports.