Forex reserves up by $853 million

Slovakia's hard currency reserves reached $6.539 billion on July 31, a $853 million increase compared to the end of 1996. NBS reserves were $2.937 billion, a $536 million drop compared to the beginning of 1997. The commercial banks' reserves were $3.602 billion, $1.390 billion up from the beginning of 1997. In July only, the reserves of commercial banks increased by $1.444 billion.