Opinion/Reserves
Central banks tiptoeing away from the dollar
According to this article from The New York Times published Tuesday 2 January, nations with large holdings of dollars are becoming increasingly willing to dump them in favour of the euro.
Yen lures Swiss, Russian, NZ central banks
According to this article published Monday 13 November by Bloomberg, central banks are increasing their holdings of the yen, in anticipation of a rebound from a 20-year low.
Who wants to be a trillionaire?
According to this article from The Economist, published Thursday 26 October, China's foreign-exchange reserves are likely to top $1 trillion as October ends, but what to do with the money poses many problems.
Plundering China's reserves
According to this article published Friday 27 October by The Wall Street Journal, with China's foreign-exchange reserves now close to the trillion dollar mark, calls to spend the money are coming fast and furious.
How big will China's foreign reserves get?
According to this article published by the People's Daily Online on Monday 23 October, China's foreign exchange reserves will exceed $2,000 billion by the end of 2010.
Reserve diversification - Danger for the dollar
According to this article published Tuesday 17 October by Daily FX, Russia has reignited the hot topic of reserve diversification and this time it is to the benefit of the Yen.
China's mushrooming forex reserve
This article published by Asia Times Online on Tuesday 19 September says that although massive levels of foreign exchange reserves represent the strength of an economy, it brings more problems than benefits.
Managing China's forex reserves
This article from The Star Online, published Friday 4 August, looks at the appropriate level for China's increasing foreign exchange reserves which will soon hit the US$1 trillion mark.
Comment: More pounds in their pockets
According to the most recent IMF data on reserve holdings, the pound sterling has surpassed the yen as the third most popular reserve currency. A number of factors could see the pound's popularity increase further.
Comment: Reserves management update
How much has changed in the last year in the world of official reserves management? The same issues - the threat of a weakening dollar, central banks' role in bring this about and their response to it, a continuation of the unprecedented accumulation of…
Comments: Reserve diversification
Recent reports of the diversification official foreign exchange reserves in the Middle East have not gone unnoticed. Economists are starting to ask if the prospect of large-scale reserve diversification is back on the international agenda, following a…
Comment: Will the Fund's new approach matter?
Stephen Roach, managing director and chief economist of Morgan Stanley, suggests that the renewed debate on the role of the international financial institutions is missing questions that "should be near the top of the global agenda".
Comment: Sweden sheds reserve dollars
The Swedish Riksbank dropped a bit of a bombshell on international currency markets on Friday 21 April by announcing a significant reduction in the share of dollars and yen in its foreign reserves portfolio. Although Sweden has a relatively small…
Comment: The IMF's challenge
Raghuram Rajan, the IMF's economic counsellor and director of research, said in a speech Monday 10 April at the Kiel Institute that "as the reserves of advanced emerging markets fall, they may well want to re-engage with the Fund". Behind these remarks…
Gold and foreign exchange reserves
According to the article "What percentage should gold in foreign exchange reserves be?" published Monday 20 March, currencies have a poor history and it is infinitely wise to protect against the worst possible eventuality.
West's gold vanishing in China once again
China will soon release statistics showing that it has passed Japan as the biggest holder of foreign currency the world has ever seen, according to this article published on Sunday 26 February.
Reservations about reserves
According to this article published on Sunday19 February, a race is unfolding in Asia involving currency reserves. The favourite in this game of monetary one-upmanship is China, it says.
Comment: Bundesbank stands firm
Leading members of the German parliament are very upset about the refusal of the Bundesbank even to talk about the sale of its gold reserves. In what is turning into a litmus test of its independence, the German central bank has, thus far, stood firm.
Greenspan remains relevant in gold debate
This article published on Friday 10 February looks at recent comments by Alan Greenspan that the recent strength of the gold price is all down to the uncertain international political situation. Overnight developments in the US support Greenspan's thesis…
Let's cut the bullion about holding gold
This article published on Saturday 11 February asks whether the Reserve Bank of Australia has made a costly blunder in its management of Australia's international reserves. This task is surely a litmus test of a central bank's financial acumen, it says.
So much forex reserve, is it a blessing?
After recent figures showed China is not far behind Japan, the world's largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, this article published on Thursday 26 January asks: is it a blessing to have such an enormous forex reserve?
Foreign reserves: a dilemma of success
According to this article published Friday 20 January, China is caught in a dilemma between relieving the pressure for the yuan's value to rise and tempering the growth of money supply.
Is China accumulating too much foreign cash?
According to this article published on Monday 16 January, with China's reserves now approaching the level of Japanese holdings, there are fears that this vast hoard of foreign exchange exposes the country to risks that could undermine future growth.
How long can BoU reserves go without aid?
This article published on Wednesday 11 January asks how big are the Bank of Uganda's reserves? And how far can the country run until the financial tank shows 'empty?'