Foreign exchange inflows decreased to EUR746 million in July, from EUR1.37 billion in the previous month, but total outflows rose to EUR1.07 billion, from EUR817 million in June.
The higher outflows reflect, among others, a cut in the central bank’s minimum reserve requirements for foreign currency deposits to 16% from 18% previously. The lower requirements are being applied starting with the July 24-August 23, 2014 maintenance period.
The central bank’s gold holdings were steady at 103.7 metric tons in July, but their value adjusted for international gold price increased slightly to EUR3.22 billion, from EUR3.2 billion in the previous month.
Romania’s overall international reserves were at EUR34.13 billion in July, down from EUR34.44 billion at the end of June.
The payments due on public and publicly guaranteed external debt in August amount to some EUR487 million, the data showed.