Foreign currency reserves
have increased by $430 million

Growth driven by BDL’s new monetary policy and FX interventions

The foreign currency reserves at the Central Bank (BDL) increased by $430 million during the last three months and a half, according to BDL data.

Marwan Barakat, Group Chief Economist and Head of Research at Bank Audi said: “The increase in foreign currency reserves from $8.57 billion in July to $9 billion in mid-November comes within the context of the new BDL policy refraining from financing the government, especially in foreign currencies, and preserving what remains from the foreign currency (FX) reserves at the Central Bank.” He said that the increase in FX reserves is mostly tied to the intervention of BDL on the parallel market through money transfer companies buying US dollars, in addition to the tax settlement effect.

Barakat said that the increase in FX reserves by $430 million comes despite a monthly disbursement of $30 million under Circular 158 and the slight depreciation of the euro relative to the US dollar over the period which affects the part of the FX reserves that are held in euro.