Belarusian gold, forex reserves up 24.2 pct in Jan.-Aug.

MINSK, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian gold and foreign exchange reserves increased 24.2 percent in January-August this year, the country's central bank said on Friday.

According to preliminary data, gold and foreign exchange reserves amounted to 8.9 billion U.S. dollars as of Sept. 1, the regulator said.

In August alone, Belarusian gold and foreign exchange reserves grew 3 percent, or 263.1 million U.S. dollars, it said.

The central bank estimated the volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves will stand at least 7.1 billion U.S. dollars on Jan. 1, 2020.