At the beginning of 2026, Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves reached a new historical maximum, Eurasian Development Bank’s macro-review named factors that contributed to the growth, sb.by reports
“In Belarus, gold and foreign exchange reserves increased by $0.53bn in December 2025 to reach a record $14.43bn at the beginning of 2026. An increase in reserve assets in foreign currency by $0.3bn against the background of the net supply of foreign currency in the domestic market became the key growth factor. Additional support to the dynamics of reserves was provided by the rise in gold prices on world markets (plus 3 percent), which increased its value in the reserves structure by $0.21bn,” the macro-review reads.
In general, gold and foreign exchange reserves increased more than 1.6-fold last year (or by $5.5bn), including by almost $2.5bn due to reserves in foreign currency. In 2025, Belarus reached the international safety criterion for the level of gold and foreign exchange reserves (the rule of thumb that reserves should be close to three months of imports).