2.1.1 Concepts and definitions
- Analytical Framework: The ECB publishes monthly data on the stock of international reserves held by the Eurosystem, i.e. the ECB and the national central banks (NCBs) of the countries participating in the euro area. The definition of Eurosystem's reserve assets, which was approved by the ECB Governing Council in March 1999, conforms to the guidelines outlined in the fifth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual "(BPM5)". Foreign currency-denominated claims on euro area residents held by the Eurosystem are shown as a memorandum item. This approach supports an analysis for monetary purposes and permits a reconciliation of the Eurosystem's international reserves and its foreign currency liquidity position. As from the April 2000 issue of the ECB Monthly Bulletin, the same breakdown is shown separately for the ECB's reserves (and related assets), which are pooled in accordance with Article 30 of the Statute of the ESCB
- Definitions: The reserve assets of the euro area consist of the Eurosystem's reserve assets, i.e. the ECB's reserve assets and the reserve assets held by the NCBs of the participating Member States. Reserve assets must (i) be under the effective control of the relevant monetary authority, either the ECB or the NCBs of the euro area Member States, and (ii) refer to highly liquid, marketable and creditworthy foreign (non-euro area) currency-denominated claims on non-residents of the euro area, plus gold, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the reserve positions in the IMF of the participating NCBs.
- Deposits with banks located in the euro area are therefore not considered part of the official reserves. Moreover, the net positions (vis-à-vis NCBs in Member States not participating in the euro area) resulting from transactions settled via the TARGET payment system are not deemed to pertain to the reserve assets as they are denominated in euro.
2.3.1 Classification/sectorization
- Classifications: The ECB Monthly Bulletin shows the monthly transactions in Eurosystem's international reserves as one total figure.
- On a quarterly basis, additional details of Eurosystem transactions, i. e. in gold, foreign exchange, holdings of SDRs and the reserve position in the IMF, are available following BPM5 standard components. A separate category for financial derivatives is presented, in line with the recent international recommendation in this field.
- Furthermore, the ECB Monthly Bulletin presents the Eurosystem's and the ECB's monthly international reserve position which is in line with that of the "International Liquidity" section of the IMF's publication International Financial Statistics. The underlying methodology is consistent with the IMF's operational guidelines for the implementation of the IMF/BIS template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity published by the IMF in October 1999. In this presentation, foreign currency-denominated claims on euro area residents held by the Eurosystem are shown as a memorandum item, permitting, inter alia, a reconciliation of the Eurosystem's international reserves and its foreign currency liquidity position.
- Gold is treated as collateral in all reversible transactions (such as gold repos, gold swaps, gold loans and gold deposits) in the Eurosystem's international reserves statistics, thus implying that holdings of monetary gold have to remain unchanged during the life of such operations. This treatment corresponds to current European banking accounting directives and practices.Reserve positions in the IMF, including the part denominated in SDRs, are classified under Reserve Position in the IMF rather than under Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).
- Claims on the IMF arising from IMF financing under NAB and GAB arrangements are classified under Reserve Position in the IMF, whereas claims arising from ESAF commitments are disclosed under foreign exchange/currency and deposits, following the IMF recommendations.
- Reverse repos vis-à-vis NCBs or other private financial institutions are classified under foreign exchange/currency and deposits. Foreign-currency-denominated securities repo transactions (including repos, securities lending and sell/buy-back transactions) are treated as collateralised loans, thus resulting in increases in the total amount of reserve assets held by the NCB borrowing cash and offering the securities as collateral, while retaining them on the balance sheet.Loans to non-bank institutions located outside the euro area are classified under other claims.Financial derivatives falling into the category of official reserve assets are netted out and classified under foreign exchange/financial derivatives. They are recorded on a net basis with no distinction between asset and liability positions.In addition to the information provided in the ECB Monthly Bulletin, the ECB publishes Eurosystem and ECB data according to the template entitled "International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity", according to the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), on its website.
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Dissemination
