Serbia's FX reserves fall 695.3 million euros in October

The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) published its October foreign exchange reserves data on November 12, 2026: the month ended with 29.16 billion euros in gross reserves, 695.3 million euros less than at the end of September. Net reserves, which exclude banks’ required reserves and obligations to the IMF, stand at 24.67 billion euros, down 889 million euros from a month earlier. The release is separate from today’s decision to hold the key policy rate at 6%.

By the central bank’s own assessment, the reserves cover 151.4% of the M1 money supply and 6.5 months of imports of goods and services.

What drained the reserves in October?

The largest outflow was net sales of foreign currency on the domestic market: 712 million euros. That figure includes a 60 million euro sale agreed at the end of September and settled in October. Another 100.7 million euros went to settling the state’s foreign currency obligations.

Inflows softened the drop: reserve management, donations and other sources added a net 285 million euros. Market effects subtracted about 167.6 million euros, mainly because the dollar price of gold fell 6.3%, while the dollar’s 1.3% gain against the euro worked in the opposite direction. Together, these four items add up to a monthly change of minus 695.3 million euros.

How much did the NBS sell on the interbank market?

On the interbank foreign exchange market, the NBS net sold 865 million euros in October. Net sales since the start of the year come to about 1.34 billion euros, and the bank cites keeping the dinar’s exchange rate against the euro relatively stable as the reason. A 209 million euro sale from the last days of October will only be booked in the reserves in November, so its effect is not yet visible in the October decline.

Interbank foreign exchange turnover in October was 615 million euros, and 7,540.4 million euros since the start of the year. The dinar stayed almost unchanged against the euro in October, while over the first ten months of 2026 it weakened 0.2% in nominal terms.

How much gold do the reserves hold?

Gold was the only item that grew in volume in October. At the end of the month the reserves held a record 55,343.1 kilograms, worth 6,223.5 million euros, or 21.3% of gross reserves. In October the bank bought 200.7 kilograms from Serbia Zijin Copper on the domestic market, equal to 16 gold bars.

Even so, the value of the gold reserves fell by 307.9 million euros in October because of price moves on the international market. Since the start of the year the NBS has bought 2.8 tonnes of gold domestically, and the value of its gold reserves has risen by 27.9 million euros, even though the dollar price of gold fell 9.2% over the same period and the dollar gained 4.9% against the euro.