The National Bank’s (NBU) gold and foreign currency reserves grew by $443.7m in September to $19.1 bln, an increase of 2.4% yoy, but were still down 1.3% ytd. On balance, the NBU purchased $552.5m of hard currency during the month from commercial banks (up from $500.5m in August). Alexander Viktorov: During May-September the NBU bought $1.3 bln of the excessive hard currency supply, after selling about $2 bln over the first four months of the year. This reflects the continuation of positive foreign trade dynamics, which have allowed the NBU to bring its currency reserves close to their historical peak of $19.4 bln reached in 2005. We estimate that gold and foreign currency reserves will end the year at $19.5 bln.