OREANDA-NEWS. Net foreign assets of Belarusian commercial banks amounted to minus U.S. USD 6.221 billion as of September 1, 2013, down 36.6% since January 1, 2013, the National Bank of Belarus told.

In August alone, the deficit of Belarusian commercial banks' net foreign assets grew 9.5% on the month.

Gross foreign assets of commercial banks were down 19.3% in Jan-Aug 2013 to USD 1.262 billion, while foreign liabilities of banks grew 22.3% to USD 7.482 billion as of September 1, 2013.

Net foreign assets placed in hard currency amounted to minUSD 6.148 billion as of September 1, 2013, while soft currency assets were at the equivalent of minUSD 72.6 million.

In 2012, Belarusian banks' net foreign assets grew to minUSD 4.554 billion as of January 1, 2013 from minUSD 3.703 billion as of January 1, 2012.