Foreign exchange reserves of CBA keep growing

By Fatma Babayeva

The foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan have increased by $54.8 million or 1.3 percent to $4.127 million in April 2016 as compared to the previous month, the bank’s website said on May 2.

After a long-standing decrease, growth was observed in the currency reserves of the CBA during last two consecutive months.

The reserves of the CBA went up by $39.5 million or 0.98 percent and stood around $4,066 million in March 2016 compared to February.

Earlier, the foreign exchange reserves of the bank have begun falling in July 2014 which is associated to the decrease in oil prices in the global markets.

According to the statistics of the CBA, the currency reserves of the bank have declined by $4,267 or twice compared to April 2015.

This process was going slowly (about $20-$50 million decrease) at the very beginning. However, the amount of the bank’s currency reserves plunged sharply after December 2014 since the demand for the dollar increased within the country.

Another reason for the decrease in bank’s currency reserves is believed to be the intervention of the Central Bank to the currency market in order to keep the exchange rate of manat against the U.S. dollar at a stable level.

Overall, the currency reserves of the CBA serve to form a strong macroeconomic buffer and reduce sensitivity of the domestic economy against the external shocks.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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