OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2012. According to NBM, as a result of foreign exchange spots it was purchased USD 19.375 mln. and other currencies expressed in USD at a sum of USD 46 thou. A share of operations by NBM in the inter-bank foreign exchange market made up 4.45% in October. NBM performs operations in the interbank foreign exchange market the six month in a row.

The first operation of this year took place in May, when NBM purchased USD 1 mln. The National Bank bought as much as USD 20.3 mln. in June, USD 31.5 mln. in July, USD 115.9 mln. in August and USD 73.53 mln. in September. Within January-April, 2012 NBM did not perform any operations in the market. That was December, 2011 when NBM did it at a sum of USD 7.14 mln.

Earlier, IMF permanent representative in Moldova Tokhir Mirzoev said that an increase in monetary reserves of NBM was a positive factor providing macro-economic stability in Moldova. Despite the slowdown in the economy in Q2 and 3 of 2012, the Moldovan foreign exchange market signalled excess of currency, he stressed. This was determined on the one hand by actions of foreign investors and banks that converted currency and by the slowing down pace of the import growth, leading to the less demand for currency and by a comparatively low inflation rate on the other one.

Excess in currency created prerequisites for its withdrawal. According to Tokhir Mirzoev, NBM currency purchases were rather invisible for the market. The National Bank of Moldova uses direct regulating operations -foreign exchange spots and swaps as the instruments of currency interventions. The spot operations mean purchases/sales of foreign currencies against Moldovan lei, and they influence the monetary stock. At the same time, a swap operation is a reversing instrument which does not influence on monetary stock in long-term prospect.

The swap operation means that the foreign currency is sold on the condition of its further re-purchase at the same sum and at the same exchange rate which have been fixed at the moment of the deal.