Belarusian Reserves Shrank in July for Second Decrease This Year

Belarus’s international reserves dropped last month for the second time this year as the country serviced debt in foreign currencies.

The gold and foreign-currency holdings shrank 1.2 percent in July to $8.23 billion, the central bank in the capital, Minsk, said in an e-mailed statement today.

Belarus wants to maintain its reserves at between $6.1 billion and $7 billion until the beginning of 2013, according to monetary-policy guidelines approved by the government. Preventing the stockpile from dropping below 2011’s year-end level will be a top priority for policy makers in the second half of 2012, the central bank said July 18.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aliaksandr Kudrytski in Minsk, Belarus at akudrytski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net