Reserves
Europe leads on gold lending and swaps
Just over 20% of central banks engage in these operations
Technology reserve staff levels hold during pandemic
Remote work posed an operational challenge
Investment committees play dual reserve benchmark roles
Final decision made by committees at half of responding central banks
Reserve coverage remains at adequate levels despite Covid
FX interventions to tackle capital outflows have not meaningfully reduced portfolios globally
Central banks divided on liquidity stress tests
Central banks with lower reserves more likely to forgo the measure
BIS launches third green bond fund in Asia
Asian Development Bank and BIS aim to foster issuance of safe green assets
One in ten central banks opened new liquidity swap lines
Benchmarking participants expanded lines in dollars, euro and renminbi
Securities lending prevalent in European central banks
Monetary policy, market maturity and currency variation may limit adoption in other regions
National income not only determinant of reserve management staff numbers
Salaries ranged between $11,968–$138,768 among benchmark participants
Most central banks invest in derivatives
External managers facilitate wider use of these instruments
External asset manager use on the rise
Central banks in upper-middle income countries allocated a higher share of reserves to external managers
Brazil central bank spends $1bn to support real
Local currency has declined more than 10% against the dollar since June
Emerging nations turned to FX interventions during pandemic
Central banks in emerging nations were twice as likely to implement FX interventions than their peers in advanced economies
Reserve managers prioritise liquidity tranches during pandemic
Central banks increased this part of their portfolios in the wake of US Treasury disruptions
Social bonds gain importance as a reserve asset
More than two-fifths of benchmark respondents invest in social bonds
Climate risk becomes more relevant to reserve managers
More central banks invest in green bonds and include climate risks in their benchmarks
Podcast: Diversifying portfolios post-Covid
BNP’s Johanna Lasker talks about why central banks should consider equities and Tips
Turkey raises banks’ gold and FX reserve levels
Central bank announces work with state-owned organisations on prototype CBDC
Bank of Finland targets 2050 carbon neutrality for investments
Greening FX reserves will only be possible if countries meet their Paris climate goal, central bank says
Central banks can improve reserves handling – World Bank
Direct board involvement, trading office setups and finance ministries all matter, report finds
BIS and HKMA start work on green bond infrastructure project
Digital platform based on blockchain aims to improve green bond market’s transparency
US and IMF block Taliban access to Afghanistan assets
IMF will not allow Taliban to receive SDRs, while US freezes central bank reserves
Mexican president demands IMF assets from central bank
Governor rejects proposal and former presidential ally says it would be legally impossible