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Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board Special Data Dissemination Standard (AS PROVIDED TO THE IMF BY THE RESPECTIVE COUNTRY)   United Kingdom International reserves and foreign currency liquidity Last Posted: Oct-3-2008 Last Certified: Dec-22-2008 Last Updated: Sep-26-2008 Contact Person(s)          Printer Friendly Page   Ryan Baigent, Monetary and Financial Statistics Division, Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London, United Kingdom EC2R 8AH   Phone : 44 207 6014881   Fax : 44 207 6013334   Email : mfsd_res@bankofengland.co.uk  Dissemination Formats Summary Methodology Access National Summary Data Page Cross-country comparisons: access the DSBB metadata query facility

The Data: Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness
Coverage characteristics	5.1.1 Statistical presentation The data cover the official assets of Her Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury) and include holdings of foreign currency denominated notes, bonds, and other securities. Also included are derivatives, foreign currency deposits, holdings of gold and SDRs and the UK's reserve position in the IMF. Data on reserve related liabilities are also disseminated in Sections II, III and IV of the International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity Template. When the data are released for the last month in a calendar quarter an annex giving the currency composition of the UK's international reserves is also published with a two month lag. The Bank of England's (central bank) holdings of foreign currency assets and their related liabilities are also published distinctly on the UK Template. The Bank of England holdings come under separate ownership and control to the official reserves of the UK (i.e. UK Government holdings) and because they cannot be used for direct funding of payments imbalances or indirectly regulating the magnitude of such imbalances through foreign exchange intervention, these holdings are not considered international reserves (see the IMF Balance of Payments Manual fifth edition paragraph 424). They are included on the UK version of the Template to allow users to build up a wider picture for the UK monetary authorities' foreign currency liquidity. The reserves template data are disseminated in billions of US dollars on international reserves and foreign currency liquidity, according to the IMF's Operational Guidelines 1999.
Periodicity	4.1.1 Periodicity Monthly
Timeliness	4.1.2 Timeliness The full International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity Template is published monthly within 3 working days of the end of month.
Access by the Public
Advance dissemination of release calendar	5.1.3 Advance release calendar Dates for upcoming releases are provided in the section covering the advance release calendar.
Simultaneous release to all interested parties	5.1.4 Simultaneous release These data are released simultaneously to all interested parties by posting the Template on the internet at 9.30am on the third working day of each month. The data are also released simultaneously to all interested parties by issuing the "HM Treasury Press Release on International Reserves".
Integrity
Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including those relating to the confidentiality of individually identifiable information	0.1.1 Responsibility for collecting, processing, and disseminating statistics Bank of England Although the Bank of England was publishing statistics for many years before the Statistical Code of Practice was formally adopted, the Code requires the Bank to make statistics available to all in accordance with Bank and open government procedures. The dissemination of data by the Bank of England is consistent with this principle and data are provided as a service to data users. Although statistics on the Central Government Debt and international reserves are not formally included within the scope of the Bank of England Statistical Code of Practice (as they are initially the responsibility of HM Treasury) the aim, as best practice, is to follow the Bank's code as closely as possible when compiling and disseminating these data. 0.1.3 Confidentiality of individual reporters' data Bank of England The Statistical Code of Practice specifies that the Bank of England undertakes to respect the confidentiality of all information given in confidence by data suppliers. 1.2.1 Disclosure of terms and conditions for statistical collection, processing, and dissemination Bank of England The Statistical Code of Practice is set out in an article on page 382 of the November 1995 "Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin". Copies of the Code are available at major business libraries, or can be obtained from the Inflation Report Division of the Bank of England, London EC2R 8AH. Tel: +44 (0)20 7601 4030. Fax: +44 (0)20 7601 5196. The Statistical Code of Practice is available on the Bank's internet website (http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/mfsd).
Identification of internal government access to data before release	1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release The number of people outside of the Bank of England Statistics Division who have access to the data prior to publication is kept to a minimum and is limited to Treasury Ministers, Governors and Directors of the Bank, as well as those in HM Treasury and the Bank directly involved in the compilation and dissemination of the data and in the formulation of monetary policy. Details are available from the contact person above
Identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases	1.2.3 Attribution of statistical products Bank of England There is no ministerial commentary accompanying the release of the data.
Provision of information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology	4.3.1 Revision schedule The data are considered to be final when first released, and are generally not revised. Any revisions would be included in the following release of data. 4.3.2 Identification of preliminary and/or revised data The data are considered to be final when first released. 1.2.4 Advance notice of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques. Changes to methodology will be available alongside the data.
Quality
Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics	5.2.1 Dissemination of documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, basis of recording, data sources, and statistical techniques An information document is posted on the Bank of England's internet site alongside the data release [http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/reserves/meth.htm]. This document outlines the methodology used to compile the data. Further, Explanatory Notes are included in the Bank of England publication ‘Monetary and Financial Statistics’ (available from the Bank’s web site) and in the Office for National Statistics' annual publication Financial Statistics: Explanatory Handbook (Tables 1.2I & 1.2H). The latter is obtainable from Stationery Office bookshops. (See the dissemination formats page for contact details for these publications.) (See also summary methodology)
Dissemination of component detail, reconciliations with related data, and statistical frameworks that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness	4.2.2 Temporal consistency In addition to the Template detailed time series data are released monthly in Bank of England: Monetary and Financial Statistics and the ONS publication Financial Statistics. These data include an instrument breakdown of international reserves and UK central government foreign currency debt. 4.2.3 Intersectoral and cross-domain consistency Data on international reserves and foreign currency debt of the central government are also published in the Balance of Payments First Release. However, these data deviate from those published in the Template.
Footnotes Last posted: Date IMF staff last posted an update to these metadata on the DSBB. Last certified: Date subscriber last officially certified the accuracy of these metadata. Last updated: Date subscriber last submitted an update of these metadata to the IMF.