Baku. TurkicWorld:

The currency reserves of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) have increased by 20.3 percent since the beginning of this year, reaching $10.8 billion, the CBA said, TurkicWorld reports.

The volume of currency reserves increased due to a considerable surplus in the current account of the balance of payments (amounting to $6.7 billion, or 12.5 percent of GDP), during which supply of currency at CBA currency auctions exceeded demand and intervention amounted to just $1.6 billion.

"The CBA's purchase of unrealized currency offerings may have an increasing impact on the manat money base in the remainder of this year. If current trends continue, the bank's intervention in the foreign exchange market may resume in 2024," added the CBA.

The CBA has lowered the benchmark interest rate from 8.5 to eight percent.

The bank's currency reserves amounted to $9 billion in 2022, which was $1.9 billion (27 percent) more year-on-year.