Articles by Central Banking staff
Over 15% of reserve managers plan diversification changes
Close to 14% of participants will increase diversification, while 17.2% are discussing changes
Fewer central banks added new reserve assets in 2023
Overall, 10.3% of institutions diversified their asset allocation, down from 18.6% last year
Wallstreet and others rank highest for reserves technology services
Ion’s Wallstreet treasury system tops the 2023 rankings
Reserve managers rank JP Morgan top for custody and banking
BlackRock preferred for knowledge transfer and capacity building
Reserve managers vote BlackRock as overall best asset manager
Goldman Sachs and “other” asset management firms also score highly
High income countries less likely to tranche reserves
Overall, 72.4% of central banks divide their portfolios into liquidity and investment sections
Fewer than half of reserve managers perform liquidity stress tests
Approach tends to be more common among African and American institutions
FX reserves commonly invested in US Treasuries, bank deposits
SIBs and EU NextGeneration fund trail behind, as reserve managers avoid infrastructure and crypto
Few central banks expanded existing swap lines over the past year
Nearly one-third of new and existing lines are denominated in US dollars
Trade in other currencies will reduce USD reserves share, say managers
Over 72% of respondents believe efforts to denominate trade in other currencies will have long-term effect
External managers hired to set up new asset classes and train staff
Central banks also look to external managers to boost returns and access market intelligence
Tight monetary policy can scar economy, SF Fed research finds
Central banks may not be able to undo effects on productivity and potential output, paper says
Reserves Benchmarks 2023 charts
Take a deep dive into the Reserves Benchmarks charts, which have just been released for 2023.
Reserve managers cut duration as top inflation-proofing strategy
No respondent reports expansion into non-conventional assets
Boards responsible for benchmark approval at most central banks
Over half of lower-middle income respondents favour investment committee over other methods
Central banks’ average import coverage ratio falls further
Upper-middle income institutions tend to have a higher ratio
Inflation revisions are significant, finds NY Fed research
Understanding inflation in real time poses major difficulties, researchers say
Reserve management staff salaries increase by almost 6% from last year
Staff in Europe remain the best paid globally
Managers divided on sanctions effect on US dollar as reserve currency
Over 43% say it will weaken its status, but nearly 40% say it will not have meaningful long-term impact
Financial Stability Benchmarks 2023 – executive summary
Key findings of the 2023 benchmark, including resources, regulation, macro-pru, crime and future risk
Central Banking Awards 2023: Gallery
See the winners from the big night, including leading figures from across the industry who came to pick up their awards
Banknotes: July to September 2023
A round-up of news and salient issues that have affected central bankers in the past three months
People: July to September 2023
A round-up of central bankers in the news and on the move during the past three months
Almost all central banks run stress tests on lenders
Most respondents say they conduct tests more than once a year