On the external side, the demand for imports of goods and services has been quite robust, prompting the Central Bank to intervene deliberately in the foreign exchange market. In the first eleven months of 2013, the Central Bank sold $ billion to authorized dealers compared with $ billion one year ago.
With the Bank calibrating its sales of foreign exchange to address imbalances in the foreign exchange market, the level of gross official reserves rose to $ billion at the end of November 2013. This represented more than 11 months’ import cover.