2003-01-08
At the end of December 2002, international reserves made up LTL 8,012.7 million (USD 2,419.7 million, EUR 2,320.6 million). In the course of one month they increased by LTL 322.5 million, i.e. 4.2 per cent.
The main reason behind the increase was net purchase of the anchor currency by the Bank of Lithuania from commercial banks of LTL 429.4 million. Working in the opposite direction on international reserves were operations of the Bank of Lithuania with central government institutions and net sales of foreign exchange to other residents. Repurchases from the IMF reduces the reserves by LTL 13.6 million.
In the course of 2002 international reserves went up by LTL 1,336.1 million, i.e. 20.0 per cent. The increase was determined by net purchases of foreign exchange from commercial banks of USD 1,324.8 million. Reserves were also boosted by the net income of the Bank of Lithuania from investment in foreign exchange. The biggest factors reducing international reserves were lower commercial bank required reserves in foreign exchange (LTL 77.5 million), repurchases from the IMF (LTL 77.6 million) and the decline of the US dollar against the litas.