Belarus's gold, forex reserves grow 5.8% in Jan-April - National Bank

MINSK. May 5 (Interfax) - Belarus's gold and foreign exchange reserves amounted to $15.27 billion as of May 1, 2026, compared to $14.42 billion at the beginning of the year, the National Bank of Belarus said.

The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves therefore increased by $843.5 million or 5.8% in January-April. In April, reserves increased 0.2% (by $24.4 million) after a 15-month cycle of growth was interrupted in March with a decline of 6.9% (by $1.13 billion) due to falling global gold prices. In February, reserves grew 4.2% (by $665.4 million), and were up 8.9% (by $1.28 billion) in January.

The value of monetary gold in the reserves as of early May amounted to $7.99 billion, increasing 7% (by $0.5 billion) in 4M. In April, the figure increased insignificantly - by less than 0.1% after a decline in March of 11.7% or by $1.06 billion.

Foreign exchange reserves have grown 5.8% (by $320 million) since the beginning of the year to $5.86 billion, with growth also of less than 0.1% in April after a decline of 1% in March.

Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) account for $1.4 billion of the reserves.

In 2025, Belarus's gold and foreign exchange reserves increased 1.6-fold after growing 9.8% in 2024, declining 2.5% in 2023 and falling 5.9% in 2022.

According to the National Bank's target forecast, the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves at the end of 2026 should be at least $9.2 billion, taking into account upcoming payments on external public debt.