Benchmarking
Corridor, floor, other: are operating frameworks fit for the future?
Central banks are becoming uncomfortably aware that monetary operations have ramifications well beyond setting short-term rates
Banknotes rarely portray current monarchs or presidents
Central banks favour other historical figures, but few institutions feature people from minority groups
Central banks tend to outsource banknote printing
De La Rue is most commonly used printer among respondents
Most central banks forecast currency demand over 1–3 years
Minority of institutions use big data for forecasting purposes
Fewer than 100 staff work in currency divisions on average
Duties including upholding Covid-19 countermeasures in some jurisdictions
Average value of counterfeit banknotes rises
UV ink the most common security tool used in battle against fake banknotes
Polymer adoption stalls in 2023
Only two benchmark respondents have concrete plans to change substrate
Central banks maintain average of four cash centres
Figure has remained stable for the last five years
Slightly more central banks have access-to-cash policies
Almost two-thirds of respondents have access policies and nearly half minimum service rules
Majority of central banks maintain currency denominations
Only a few countries removed denominations from active circulation in past five years
Visual aids nearly universal on banknotes
Majority of respondents use four or five features on their paper currency
Central banks report increase in value of banknotes in circulation
Average volume of notes declines by 2.9% year on year
Central banks report continued fall in cash usage
Share of cash payments remains high in upper-middle income jurisdictions, but falls marginally overall
Reserve Benchmarks 2023 – model banks analysis
Benchmarking data sheds light on key differences in reserves management strategies in advanced, emerging and developing economies
Reserve Benchmarks 2023 – executive summary
Key findings of the 2023 benchmark, including coverage ratios, strategies to tackle high inflation, new trends in asset diversification, geopolitical risks and external managers
Reserve Benchmarks 2023 report – rebuilding buffers
Insights on portfolios coverage ratios, strategies to tackle high inflation, new trends in asset diversification, geopolitical risks and external managers
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