The foreign currency reserves of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) went up by EUR 659.4 million in December to reach, according to preliminary data, EUR 12.06 billion at the end of the month, the central bank stated on Wednesday.

This was mostly the result of inflow based on the mandatory foreign currency reserves in the net amount of EUR 555.4 million coming from commercial banks.

At the same time, inflow of funds collected on the basis of granted loans and donations amounted to EUR 31.8 million.
During December, EUR 63.6 million was allocated from the foreign currency reserves for settlement of debts to foreign creditors.

The net foreign currency reserves, i.e. the reserves reduced by the amount of banks' foreign currencies on the basis of mandatory reserves, and the funds drawn from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amounted to 6.66 billion euros at the end of December.

This level of foreign currency reserves ensures the coverage of money mass (M1) of 430 percent, short-term debt of 1,771 percent, and at the same time covers over eight months of import of goods and services.