ArmInfo. The gross international reserves of Armenia decreased by 7.1% or $ 201.3 million in the first half of 2020 (against a decline of 1.7% a year earlier), amounting to $ 2.648 billion. This is evidenced by the data of the Central Bank of Armenia. Of these, the lion's share - $ 2.597 billion falls on external assets in hard currency, and the share of SDRs in the IMF amounted to $ 51 million. According to the regulator's report, for the first half of this year foreign assets in hard currency decreased by 8.7%, and the share of SDR in the IMF jumped 8.3 times. Moreover, in monthly terms, the decline in BMD was recorded in January-April (with the highest rate in January - 6.3%), after which growth followed in May, but in June the decline resumed. And the share of SDRs in the IMF was decreasing monthly during the first quarter, freezing in April at the same level, then in May it jumped sharply, but again in June it marked a drawdown.
However, the annual dynamics (June 2020 to June 2019) turned out to be upward: BMD increased by 19.3% or by $ 427.9 million, while foreign assets in foreign currency increased by 17.6% and the share of SDR in the IMF jumped 4.4 times. A year earlier, in June 2019 to June 2018, the dynamics were also upward, but the pace was more modest: BMD increased by 11.5%, foreign assets in foreign currency - by 11.2%, the share of SDR in the IMF - 2.1 times.
For the II quarter of 2020, Armenia's gross international reserves turned in the direction of a 2.6% growth from a 9.4% decline in the I quarter. Moreover, external assets in hard currency went from a 9.3% decline to a 0.7% increase, and the share of SDR in the IMF after a decline of 55.7% in the first quarter jumped 18.6 times in the second quarter. A year earlier, the quarterly dynamics were similar - again, a trend reversal from recession to growth was recorded, with the VMR and external assets in hard currency increasing rates were higher than the current ones, and the share of SDR in the IMF was more modest. In June 2020, gross international reserves slipped by 2% from 8.5% growth in May, and in their structure almost the same deterioration was observed for external assets in hard currency - from 5.7% growth to 1.2% decline, with a decrease in the share of SDR in the IMF by 31.5% after a jump in May by 27 times. A year earlier, in June 2019, the opposite picture was observed: BMD increased by 4.4% after the May decline by 1.1%, while the dynamics of foreign assets in foreign currency increased by 5.6% from May 2.7% -th decline, but the share of SDR in the IMF, like the current dynamics, decreased by 67.6% after the May jump 17 times.
Recall that in 2019 the gross international reserves of Armenia increased by 25.7%, with the growth of foreign assets in hard currency by 25.8% and the share of SDR in the IMF by 3%. For the IV quarter of 2019, gross international reserves grew by 18%, with an increase in foreign assets in foreign currency at 17.7% and a jump in the share of SDR in the IMF by 9 times. During 2019, the upward dynamics of the BMR was observed in February-March, June, August-October and December, similar to the periods of growth of foreign assets in hard currency, and the share of SDR in the IMF only jumped in May and October.
It should be noted that the share of banking gold in the gross international reserves of Armenia was reset in December 2003.
