Benchmarking
Central banks keep security-sensitive cash tasks in house
Most outsource capital-intensive work, with printing the most common
Central banks remove over 40,000 fake notes on average
Most counterfeited banknotes detected in series issued from 2015–2020
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Volume of damaged notes withdrawn from circulation increases
Frequency of official fitness tests tends to have bearing on removals
One in five central banks to issue new banknotes next year
Third of respondents have seven denominations of banknotes in circulation
Number of banknote depots linked to cash cycle involvement
Public and private sectors jointly bear distribution costs in most jurisdictions
Mandatory cash acceptance not always backed by other policies
Benchmarking data suggests possible mismatch between demands on banks and merchants
One-fifth of EMDE central banks actively discourage cash use
Digital payments are reducing cash demand, especially in advanced economies
Volume of cash in circulation averages less than 5bn notes
Proportion of payments made using cash averages 40% in past year
Printworks owners have seven times more cash staff
Currency departments generally more satisfied with non-staff resources than staffing
Banks compete with official sector for reserve manager market share
External allocations increased modestly, but preferences have been reshuffling
Quarter of central banks adjusted reserves strategy after tariffs
Managers mostly adjusted duration; most change comes from Asia-Pacific
Third parties manage roughly one-sixth of reserves
Compensation for external asset managers takes different forms across jurisdictions
Four-fifths of central banks review strategic asset allocation annually
Approach tends to be more pronounced among smaller reserves holders
ESG gap between advanced and emerging economies narrows
ESG bond allocations are slightly down overall, but EMDEs are catching up
Foreign exchange interventions jump 71% year on year
One in four central banks uses derivatives for FX intervention
Investment tranches account for half of reserves
Just one-fifth of central banks lack tranching mechanisms
Central bank gold reserves ramping up
Equities also on the rise, but remain idiosyncratic
Larger reserve holders operate longest portfolio duration
Duration among respondents holds steady at around two years, on average
Reserves exposure to non-SDR sovereign debt increases
US Treasuries and gold remain the most prominent asset classes
US dollar continues to dominate central bank FX reserves
Nearly all central banks hold dollars, but emerging market reserve managers have the highest allocations