ArmInfo. In January-October 2019, the gross international reserves of Armenia increased by 9.3% - up to $ 2.469 billion. In y-o-y terms (October 2019 compared to October 2018), this indicator increased by 18.5%.
According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, in the structure of reserves $ 2.460 billion are external assets in hard currency, which increased by 18.2% y-o-y, and only in January-October - by 9.2%. The share of SDR in the IMF amounted to $ 8.3 million, rising by 5.1 fold y-o-y, with growth in January- October this year by 38.1%, with the sharpest rise observed in May and October.
During January-October, the decline in gross international reserves fell in January, April, May and July, and from August to October it grew by a total of 12%, with a similar increase in foreign assets in hard currency and an increase in the share of SDR in the IMF by 2.4 fold.
As a comparison, we note that in January-October 2018, gross international reserves decreased by 10%. In their structure, external assets in hard currency decreased by 9.8%, and the share of SDR in the IMF decreased by 77.7%. The y-o-y dynamics at that time (October 2018 to October 2017) looked as follows: gross international reserves decreased by 1.7%, with a similar decline in foreign assets in hard currency (by 1.7%) and an increase in the share of SDR in the IMF by 71, 6% In October 2018, a 3.1% decline in international reserves was triggered by a similar decrease in foreign assets in foreign currency (by 3.1%) and a decrease in the share of SDR in the IMF by 1.3%.
To note, in 2018, gross international reserves declined by 2.8%, with a similar decline in foreign assets in hard currency and a decline in the share of SDR in the IMF by 17.5%. In the fourth quarter of 2018, gross international reserves increased by 4.6%, while external assets grew in hard currency by 4.5% and the SDR share in the IMF jumped 3.7 fold. In December 2018, the gross international reserves increased by 6.2%, and in their structure almost the same growth was observed in foreign assets in hard currency - by 6.3%, while the share of SDR in the IMF fell by 14%. Over the course of 2018, the upward trend in gross international reserves was observed in July-September and in November-December, similar to the periods of growth of foreign assets in hard currency, and the share of SDR in the IMF jumped only in April and November. To recall the share of banking gold in Armenia's gross international reserves was reset to zero in December 2003.