Reserves rose for the second time this year, following the previous increase in February.
One factor lifting the reserves could be the active use in October of the MNBʼs EUR/HUF FX swaps, which the central bank introduced a year ago as a “fine-tuning instrument” for market liquidity. The stock of the swaps rose by the equivalent of about EUR 1 bln during the month, MTI-Econews calculated.
The issue of a ten-year EUR 1 bln eurobond early in October is unlikely to have raised the reserves as the proceeds were used to buy back USD 1.2 bln of high-interest dollar bonds with short maturities.