Update of the International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity: Guidelines for a Data Template (Pre-publication Draft, January 2012)

The IMF Statistics Department, in consultation with the Reserve Assets Technical Expert Group, member countries, and other IMF departments, has prepared a pre-publication draft of the updated International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity: Guidelines for a Data Template (Guidelines). The Guidelines were initially released in 2001, and this update was needed to ensure consistency with the Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity (“Reserves Data Template”) itself, which was modified in 2009 as a consequence of the Executive Board’s Decision to strengthen the effectiveness of Article VIII section (5) of the Fund’s Articles of Agreement. In addition, some clarifications to the Guidelines were necessary to ensure consistency with the text of the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual. Some clarifications to the Guidelines were also necessary based on the IMF Statistics Department’s experience with member countries that report on the Reserves Data Template.

The updated Guidelines include three new appendices. Appendix VI, “Reserve Assets and Currency Unions”, provides further methodological guidance for reserve assets in the circumstance where an economy is a member of a currency union. Appendix VII, “Frequently Asked Questions on the Characteristics of Reserve Assets”, provides information to assist countries in identifying reserve assets. Appendix VIII, “Statistical Treatment of Lending to the IMF, Lending to IMF Managed Trusts, and Special Drawing Rights”, clarifies the statistical treatment in the cases where the IMF is actively engaged as a principal, manager, or administrator of positions or transactions.

The updated Guidelines contribute to the IMF's initiatives to enhance data transparency among its member countries and to provide international methodological standards. They therefore support analysis and financial surveillance, and the adoption of sound macroeconomic policies.

This pre-publication draft is subject only to final editing for publication in book form. It is currently available in electronic form only. The printed publication will be available soon.