This paper investigates the cyclicality of international reserves and their role in macroeconomic stabilization. We challenge two widely held assumptions: (1) central banks typically manage IR counter-cyclically—accumulating reserves during booms and drawing them down during downturns; and (2)...

This paper analyzes the unanalized topic in macroeconomic (monetary) politics, which is the emergence of the currency crisis as a consequence of targeting inflation. Many central banks adopted inflation targeting under a pressure from the IMF. Sudden depreciation of exchange rate which results...

This paper examines the role of foreign exchange reserve demand in mitigating inflationary pressures resulting from money supply growth in reserve currency issuing states (RCISs). Despite recurrent substantial monetary expansions in RCISs in response to recessions such as the 2000 Post-Dot Com...

Purpose - This paper aims to obtain a recent estimate of the cost of precautionary foreign reserve accumulation that emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) had to endure to protect themselves against the risks of financial globalization. In addition, the study estimates the cost of...

In July 1991, India began to dismantle its long-standing, highly restrictive import control regime and move toward a more open economy. How were policymakers able to dislodge and replace an entrenched system with powerful vested interests behind it? Standard explanations for policy change -...

This is the third report on the climate-related financial disclosures of Eurosystem assets held for monetary policy purposes and of the ECB's foreign reserves. 2 The primary objective of the ESCB is to maintain price stability in the euro area, targeting an inflation rate of 2% over the medium...

Recently, there has been increasing research interest in the historical composition of central bank reserves. However, studies in this area is hindered by a lack of data, as such data spanning multiple centuries is only available for a small number of countries. This paper presents an empirical...

This biennial report provides a quality review of the national balance of payments (b.o.p.), international investment position (i.i.p.) and international reserves template of the Eurosystem (international reserves), as well as the associated euro area aggregates.1 The report fulfils the formal...

This biennial report provides a quality review of the national balance of payments (b.o.p.), international investment position (i.i.p.) and international reserves template of the Eurosystem (international reserves), as well as the associated euro area aggregates.1 The report fulfils the formal...

The share of U.S. dollar assets in the official foreign exchange reserve portfolios of central banks is sometimes taken as an indicator of dollar status. We show that the observed decline in the aggregate share of U.S. dollar assets does not stem from a systematic shift in currency preferences...

The rapid advent of digital money (DM) and assets raises questions about its implications for the functioning of the international monetary system (IMS). The low transaction costs of digital technologies, their accessibility and ease of automation, and their integration into existing digital...

This policy brief presents a new comprehensive dataset on the currency compositions of international reserves of 64 economies from 1996 to 2023. The dataset contains country-specific shares in international reserves for the eight major international currencies, i.e. the United States Dollar...

This year’s report provides the external sector assessment of 30 of the world’s largest economies on the basis of their 2023 data. With tight monetary policy conditions in key advanced economies continuing in 2023, the US dollar remained strong in 2023 and early 2024 by historical standards,...

Foreign exchange reserves (FER), especially dollar assets, are vital for a developing country to maintain economic stability, foster growth, and protect against unexpected amendments. In recent years, particularly since the onset of COVID-19, several emerging countries have experienced...

I propose a model of the reserve currency paradigm that centers on liquidity demand for safe assets. In global recessions, the demand for U.S. safe assets increases and raises their convenience yields, giving rise to stronger dollar and countercyclical seigniorage revenues. The seigniorage...

This study investigates the impact of economic sanctions on exchange rate volatility, with a specific focus on the role of foreign reserves in mitigating these effects across 21 countries from 2002 to 2022. Employing advanced econometric models, including Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE)...

Many developing countries are still grappling with the consequences of the pandemic and the associated high debt burdens while facing huge financing needs, inter alia related to climate change. In response, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights...

The paper explores the interconnections between foreign capital flows and the exchange rate regime switching in developing countries. We formulate the exchange rate regime switching as annual time series of binary/ordered variables employing de facto classification of exchange rate arrangements...

What explains the US dollar's role in the global economy and the tensions affecting its likely persistence? Most analyses start from Triffin's dilemma, which accurately captured specific but partial tensions of a global monetary system based on essentially fixed exchange rates, gold backing for...

This study empirically investigates the dynamics of the relationship between import demand and foreign exchange reserves for an oil-rich and high-income developing country, Oman. This study employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to investigate the impact of real income, domestic...

This report follows up on the impact of the historic $650 billion 2021 SDR allocation on the global economy, documenting IMF members' use of the allocation and assessing its economic effects. The report finds that the allocation was beneficial for the global economy, helping meet the long-term...