Where does the Central Bank store foreign exchange reserves? Gold and foreign exchange reserves of the countries of the world. What is it - gold and foreign exchange reserve

Gold and foreign exchange reserves are reserves foreign currency and the country's gold. They are stored in the Central Bank. These funds are at the disposal of government agencies. Gold and foreign exchange reserves are used in settlements of foreign trade transactions, to repay the country's external and internal debt, as well as for investment projects.

The need to create

Gold and foreign exchange reserves are required to cover temporary excess payments on various types international payments over budget revenues. The amount of reserves held by the country's Central Bank is important indicator. Its value characterizes the state’s ability to make constant payments related to external payments.

In other words, gold and foreign exchange reserves are highly liquid financial assets. They are under the control of those government agencies who carry out monetary regulation.

These funds, if necessary, are used to finance the resulting deficit in balance of payments countries.

Signs of gold and foreign exchange reserves

The reserves stored in the Central Bank of the country have the following characteristics:

They are national highly liquid reserves that are among the main instruments government regulation when making international payments;

They act as evidence of the strong position of the state in financially;
- are a guarantor of stability national currency;
- ensure the uninterrupted fulfillment of the country’s international obligations.

Composition of gold and foreign exchange reserves

Inventories stored in Central state bank, are divided into two groups of assets. The first of them includes gold, which can be in coins and bars, as well as platinum, silver and diamonds. These assets can always be put up for sale or used in another way, which will allow them to fulfill their obligations to repay external debt.

Gold and foreign exchange reserves of the second group are funds in foreign currency. In Russia it includes the euro and the American dollar. The assets of the second group in our country are also represented by special positions and rights in the IMF.

Management of gold and foreign exchange reserves

Three models have been developed and are in operation that define the relationship for the management and distribution of state reserves. Gold and foreign exchange reserves are owned by the Treasury or the Ministry of Finance. In this case, the Central Bank is assigned purely technical functions.

Some gold and foreign exchange reserves of countries around the world are subject to a specific management mechanism chosen by the Treasury of a given state. This is what happens in the UK, for example.

Gold and foreign exchange reserves of countries of the world can be owned Central Bank countries. He is also the manager of these reserves. This model is adopted in Germany and France. The central banks of these countries manage gold and foreign exchange reserves and accept independent decision on the structure of building state reserves. Mixed models for the management and ownership of gold and foreign exchange reserves have been adopted in Russia, Japan and the USA.

State stock requirements

The reserves that each country creates are insurance reserves. They are able to protect national economy any state from possible macroeconomic risks. In this regard, the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank must satisfy a number of requirements. One of them is versatility. This means the possibility of application in any industry and field.

Gold and foreign exchange reserves must also have the ability to quickly move in space.

Any placement of inventories involves their return over time. That is why the maintenance and formation of gold and foreign exchange reserves requires certain expenses. The Central Bank does not receive income from storing reserves. However, if there are enough of them large quantities the state may decide to issue loans to other countries at interest.

Impact on inflation

Do the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves influence the increase in the depreciation of the money supply? This issue remains controversial to this day. There is a certain opinion that as stocks increase, the quantity decreases. money supply in the country, which helps reduce inflation. However, most scientists do not agree with this position. They argue that as government reserves increase, the country's inflation rate is bound to rise.

Security of the gold and foreign exchange reserve

Ensuring a certain level of government reserves allows a number of tasks to be accomplished. Among them are the following:

Support for the country's currency;
- maintaining trust in state policy;
- cash management;
- avoiding shock during a crisis period by reducing external vulnerability and maintaining liquidity financial resources in foreign currency;
- maintaining the country’s rating as a reliable and self-confident state;
- the role of supporting the national currency, supported by external assets.

Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves

The reserves of the Central Bank of our country are formed from two parts. One of them is the excess income received federal budget. It was from them that the formation of the Russian Federation took place in 2004. The second component is international reserves, which are managed by the Bank of Russia. These funds, denominated in foreign currency, have different functions and sources of formation. However, at this stage, their investment in the country’s economy is considered inappropriate.

As of November 22, 2013, they amounted to 505.9 billion US dollars. Their main share is in euros and dollars (90%). Nine percent is gold.

The gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Federation are presented mainly in US dollars (over 64%). Only twenty-seven percent of the reserves structure is allocated to the euro. These indicators indicate dollar orientation export-import operations Russian manufacturers.

There is a tendency towards an increase in foreign currency assets held in Central Bank reserves. This is facilitated by strengthening stock market Russia. In this regard, the share of monetary gold in reserves is constantly decreasing. This is due to the decline in the reliability of these investments. Over the past two decades, the rise in gold prices has lagged significantly behind inflation processes. Besides, this asset is not liquid. Its impossible in short time turn into cash. In addition, gold does not bring any income to the Central Bank. In this regard, the shift in emphasis in favor of foreign currency assets becomes clear.

Similar trends are typical for other countries. The central banks of a number of countries (Holland, Belgium, Australia, etc.) have already begun selling gold from their reserves.

US gold and foreign exchange reserves

America's reserves include all currency in circulation. This does not take into account those funds that are in cash vaults authorities. In addition, the US gold and foreign exchange reserves include commercial bank finances held in the accounts of state reserve banks.

When calculating the expanded dollar overhang, it includes the government's debt, which is reduced by the amount of those liabilities that are on the Federal Reserve's balance sheet. When calculating this indicator take into account the amount of international obligations and assets of the country’s authorities.

The US gold and foreign exchange reserves (according to the analysis) provide only fifteen percent of the money supply. If those who are holders government papers, decided to pay them off due to lack of confidence in the dollar, then the value of the money supply would be only three percent.

The United States remains the world's largest gold holder, despite the current volume precious metal almost three times lower than the post-war maximum. At the same time, the size of the total reserves of the Central Banks of Europe and all European countries is more than ten thousand tons of gold, and this is higher than this figure in the United States.

Economists analyze data on the ratio of gold reserves available to a country and the value of its government debt. In this regard, Switzerland has the best position, and the United States - the worst.

The United States of America was able to become the first among the states of the world community in terms of the volume of accumulated gold. geographical position and geological features. During the first five years of the so-called “gold rush” alone, about three hundred and seventy tons of the precious metal were mined. This explains the high share of gold in the country's state reserves. She is on this moment is about seventy-four and a half percent. In mass terms this is 8133.5 tons.

It is also quite natural that the world’s largest gold storage facility has been built in the United States. Its owner is the Federal Reserve Bank. The fact that the eurozone has a larger amount of yellow metal in its denomination is explained by the presence of the International Monetary Fund on its territory. However, gold reserves in Europe are under the control of the United States Congress. Even the decision to sell the precious metal must be subject to a US resolution.

Welcome to Financial Genius! Today I will try to clearly explain to you what it is gold and foreign exchange reserves (gold reserves), what they should be, what happens when gold reserves increase or decrease, is this good or bad, etc. Recently, many media outlets have often speculated on information about a decrease in the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia or Ukraine, presenting this as something extremely negative, for example, as an approach to default.

Is the decline in gold and foreign currency reserves really that scary, and what does this mean for the country’s economy? All this is discussed in today’s article.

What are gold and foreign exchange reserves?

I’ll start with a definition that I will try to give and explain as accessible and understandable as possible.

Gold and foreign exchange reserves are one of the assets of the country's Central Bank, which secures its obligations.

Based on the name, it is clear that gold and foreign currency reserves are a kind of reserve fund that can be used by the Central Bank if necessary (if certain circumstances occur). Another name for gold and currency reserves is international reserves. Let's take a closer look at what gold and foreign exchange reserves are in financial terms and what they consist of.

central bank, like any enterprise, has its own balance sheet, consisting of liabilities (liabilities, sources of funds) and assets (methods of investing funds). The main obligation of the Central Bank is the national currency of the country in which it is located. That is, the liability side of the Central Bank’s balance sheet takes into account the cash and non-cash money supply in rubles, hryvnias, etc., depending on the country. And the assets take into account those instruments in which this money supply is placed, or, as you may more often hear, “what it is secured with.”

For example, this is what the balance sheet of the Bank of Russia looks like for 2014:

As you know, based on the main principle of any accounting, an asset must be equal to a liability. When money is emitted, the newly issued money supply cannot increase the liability side of the balance sheet without an equivalent increase in the asset side. Therefore, the issue of money is always accompanied by either the issue of government debt securities (bonds), or the purchase of securities () of foreign issuers, or the issuance of external and internal loans, or an increase in gold and foreign currency reserves, or something else that falls into the asset balance sheet of the Central Bank.

Gold and foreign exchange reserves can be called one of the most reliable and liquid types of security for the national currency, but it should be understood that this is not the only financial asset of the Central Bank, and at the same time it is often the least profitable. In addition to gold and foreign currency reserves, the national currency is provided by own and foreign securities, external and internal loans and deposits, respectively, issued and attracted by the Central Bank, and even fixed assets on the balance sheet of the Central Bank.

Structure of gold and foreign exchange reserves.

The structure of gold and foreign exchange reserves, as the name suggests, primarily includes gold and currency, but not exclusively these assets (more details later). Russia and Ukraine are characterized by the use of US dollars and euros as reserve currencies, in developed countries ah, gold and foreign currency reserves also often include the British pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and other currencies.

The share of gold and foreign currency, as well as different foreign currencies in gold and foreign exchange reserves may be different, depending on the policy of the Central Bank and the tasks that it faces. As a rule, the stronger the national currency of a state, the greater the share of gold in its gold and foreign exchange reserves, and, conversely, the weaker the national currency, the more other, stronger world currencies are included in the gold and foreign exchange reserves.

So, for example, as of 01/01/2014. the share of gold in gold and foreign currency reserves was:

– in the USA – 70%;

– in Germany – 66%;

– in France – 64.9%;

– on average for member countries of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) – 55.2%.

– in Russia – 7.8%;

– in Ukraine – 8.0%;

– group average developing countries – 8,0%.

Over the past 3 years, gold has fallen in price (more about this in the article), so it is not always the optimal asset for forming gold and foreign currency reserves. It is also logical that for developing countries, world currencies are a more suitable asset for forming gold and foreign exchange reserves (they grow more strongly in price relative to the national currency), and the issuing countries of the world's largest currencies, accordingly, give preference to gold.

In addition to gold and currency, gold and foreign exchange reserves include the so-called. Special Drawing Rights (SDR) – international reserve assets held in the state’s account with the IMF, as well as the so-called. reserve position – state quota in the IMF.

Using the example of the balance sheet of the Bank of Russia for 2014 (see screenshot above), in the “Assets” section you can see all these components of gold and foreign currency reserves.

The structure of gold and foreign exchange reserves also largely depends on monetary policy which is carried out or intends to be carried out by the Central Bank. So, for example, currency is convenient to use for conducting currency interventions and influencing, which cannot be said about gold.

Formation and use of gold and currency reserves.

There are 3 economic models, which use different approaches to the formation and use of gold and foreign exchange reserves:

1. The owner and manager of gold and foreign currency reserves is exclusively the Central Bank of the country: it is he who makes decisions on increasing, decreasing, and the composition of gold and foreign currency reserves, performing one of its main functions - supporting the exchange rate of the national currency. This model is used, for example, in Germany and France.

2. The owner and manager of gold and currency reserves is the Ministry of Finance or the State Treasury of the country, and the Central Bank only performs technical functions: it executes orders received from these government agencies. An example of such a model is the UK gold and currency reserves.

3. Mixed model, which to varying degrees combines the two above-mentioned models: part of the powers to form and use gold and foreign currency reserves are with the Central Bank of the country, and part – with the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury. This model is used in the USA, Japan, Russia, and Ukraine.

Why are gold and foreign exchange reserves needed?

It is generally accepted that the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank act as security for the national currency and can characterize stability financial situation states, since they serve as a kind of guarantee that the state will fulfill its obligations. On the one hand, this is indeed true, but only to a certain extent, which for different countries may be different.

On the other hand, a lot depends, as I already wrote, on the goals and objectives facing the state in general and the Central Bank in particular. In addition, it is necessary to look not only at gold and foreign currency reserves, but also at the entire asset structure of the balance sheet of the Central Bank, and at the share of gold and foreign currency reserves in these assets.

For example, for countries that regularly face the problem of a balance of payments (when exports exceed imports and vice versa), developing countries with problems with strong devaluation of the national currency, gold and foreign exchange reserves (especially their foreign exchange part), of course, play a very important role, since are a tool for maintaining the exchange rate of the national currency and aligning the balance of payments if necessary. But for developed countries, maintaining a balance of payments, this is not so relevant, so they can back their currencies mostly with gold (rather than other currencies), as well as, for example, securities and loans issued to other countries, as higher-yielding assets than just currency, but, at the same time, less liquid.

In addition, a high level of gold and foreign exchange reserves is more necessary for countries pursuing isolated economic policies that cannot or do not want to count on credit support from other countries (for example,).

Also, in order to draw any conclusions, it is necessary to consider not absolute value The country's gold and foreign currency reserves, and their ratio to the total money supply of the national currency - this is how one can determine what share of the national currency these reserves provide.

It cannot be argued that the stability of the country’s economy and the exchange rate of the national currency is directly dependent on the size of gold and foreign currency reserves; such a dependence can be observed only to a certain extent, and for each specific country this degree is different, based on the state and direction of the economy.

However, the state of gold and foreign exchange reserves can indirectly affect the state of the country’s balance of payments, exchange rate, inflation rate and other important macroeconomic indicators.

List of countries by gold and foreign exchange reserves.

As you can see, the absolute leader in terms of gold and foreign exchange reserves is China - its international reserves exceed the reserves of Japan, next on the list, by more than 3 times (!). This is largely due to the size of China and, accordingly, the size of the yuan money supply, as well as its export-oriented economy. China does not need to strengthen the exchange rate of the national currency, but, on the contrary, in last years National Bank China is trying in every possible way to curb the growth of the yuan, and this requires constant currency interventions.

Japan, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, occupying positions 2, 3 and 4 in the ranking, respectively, are also export-oriented countries, and Switzerland ranks 1st in the world in terms of economic development(according to UN research for 2014 gtmarket.ru/ratings/legatum-prosperity-index/info). China took 6th place in this indicator, Japan – 7th place, Saudi Arabia – 24th place. Japan and Switzerland also need large volumes of gold and foreign exchange reserves to carry out foreign exchange interventions aimed at depreciating the exchange rate of national currencies (the overvalued yen and franc often create big problems for the development of exports in these countries).

It is noteworthy that the TOP 10 countries in terms of gold and foreign currency reserves include Russia, Brazil, and the Republic of Korea, whose economies and national currencies cannot be called stable and sustainable. It will probably be difficult for us to talk about Brazil and Korea, but we are all watching what happened last year and is now happening in Russia, where in 2014 it was almost 100%. That is, huge gold and foreign exchange reserves did not help in this case, even though a significant part of them was spent on maintaining the ruble exchange rate. Russia as of the last date amounted to 600 basis points (the country is in 4th place in the world according to this anti-rating), and in terms of economic development Russia in 2014 took 57th place.

It is also noteworthy that the United States and the most developed European countries (Germany, France, Great Britain) are only in the second ten countries in terms of gold reserves. Thus, the United States occupies the 19th position, despite the fact that its gold and foreign exchange reserves in 2014 dropped from 6th position in the ranking to 19th, decreased by 3.5 times and, according to the table, 3.2 times less than in Russia ( !). However, it was the American dollar that showed highest rates growth against all world currencies.

Gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia and Ukraine.

Now let’s look at what a decrease in gold reserves or an increase in them can indicate. Recently, as you know, the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia and Ukraine have decreased significantly, and most often you can see a negative assessment of such a decrease.

First of all, I would like to note that gold and foreign currency reserves, like any reserve fund, are intended to be used in certain situations. Therefore, if such situations arise, they can and should be used for its intended purpose, there is nothing terrible or reprehensible in this.

That is, simply “sitting” on your reserves, like on a chest of money, and being happy that they exist, is pointless. Gold and foreign exchange reserves must fulfill their functions. Another question is how competently and expediently their use is.

For example, gold and foreign exchange reserves of Ukraine in 2014 decreased by 62% 2.7 times - from $20.4 billion to $7.5 billion. In particular, 8.6 billion of this amount was sold to Naftogaz to pay for natural gas, the rest of the amount was mostly spent on servicing external debt and a little on foreign exchange interventions to maintain the exchange rate of the hryvnia. Is this bad? The bad thing is that now there are opportunities to use reserve fund has become much less, in fact, already this year Ukraine will be able to use a maximum of 58% of the amount of reserves that was used last year (if gold and foreign currency reserves are completely reset). The good thing is that if these reserves had not been used, and other possibilities for payment had not been found external debts– the country would actually go into default. That is, gold and foreign currency reserves were used for their intended purpose, as a reserve asset.

Gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia in 2014 decreased by 24% - from $509.6 billion to $385.5 billion.

Here gold and foreign currency reserves were spent on foreign exchange interventions to maintain the ruble exchange rate. Is it good or bad? It’s bad because the use of almost $125 billion for currency interventions did not produce any effect - the ruble still devalued over the year by almost 100%. The good thing is that if it were not for these interventions, the devaluation of the ruble would certainly be significantly higher (for example, it could be 200%), and this would lead to much greater problems in the economy than those that exist now. Thus, it can also be stated that gold and foreign currency reserves were spent for their intended purpose - as means to maintain the exchange rate of the national currency. Even if not as effective as we would like.

Please note that the US gold and foreign exchange reserves in 2014, as I wrote above, decreased by 3.5 times (that is, even more than in Ukraine!), however, the country’s economy and the dollar exchange rate are in a significant plus this year.

By the way, in the table above you can see structure of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves. As of January 1, 2015, it looks like this:

– Foreign exchange reserves – 88% (including foreign currency – 85%, SDR account – 2%, reserve position in the IMF – 1%);

– Monetary gold – 12%.

What will a decrease or increase in gold reserves lead to?

To answer this question, it is important to know what changes occur in the balance sheet of the Central Bank when gold reserves decrease or increase, and what such changes can lead to. After all, when gold reserves in a balance sheet asset decrease, it is necessary to either equivalently increase another item of assets, or equivalently reduce liabilities. Likewise, with an increase in gold reserves. In other words, you need to know why gold and foreign exchange reserves increase or decrease.

For example, when using gold and foreign currency reserves for interventions (selling foreign currency to maintain the exchange rate of the national currency), the gold and foreign currency reserves in the asset and the money supply in the national currency in the liability side of the balance sheet are simultaneously reduced, which should stimulate an increase in its value. That is, there is a reduction in the overall balance sheet of the Central Bank.

And when using gold and foreign exchange reserves, for example, to issue a foreign currency loan to an exporting enterprise, the gold and foreign exchange reserves in the balance sheet asset decrease and at the same time the issued loans increase. At the same time, the total balance remains unchanged. In this case, in fact, more liquid assets of the Central Bank are replaced by less liquid, but more profitable ones.

Thus, Russia and Ukraine constantly increased the money supply in circulation (balance sheet liability); accordingly, they placed part of the newly printed money in gold and foreign currency, increasing their gold and foreign exchange reserves (balance sheet asset). In this case, the increase in gold reserves often even played a negative role - due to the simultaneous increase in the money supply, it contributed to growth. In addition, large volumes of gold and foreign exchange reserves were needed to support the fixed exchange rate- they could be in demand at any moment, they often turned out to be so and were used for their intended purpose. Similar issues did not arise in many developed countries, and therefore the growth dynamics of gold and foreign exchange reserves there were not so strong.

In fact, a large volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves that are not used anywhere, and their constant increase, translated into the personal budget of a person or family, means storing huge amounts of money “under the pillow,” “for a rainy day.” Yes, it’s good when there are reserves, but within reasonable limits and used for specific purposes. But an increase or decrease in gold and foreign currency reserves in itself, as well as their total volume, cannot be called either positive or negative point, if we do not consider the situation in a general context.

It often happens that a country simply does not need large gold and foreign exchange reserves, and the Central Bank backs its currency with other, more profitable assets, for example, securities, issued loans, etc. It’s more profitable this way, and this is what the central banks of many developed countries do. Moreover, the more developed a country’s economy is, and the stronger the position of its currency, the greater the choice of instruments that central banks have to back their currencies: they can invest in medium- and long-term assets of different risk levels and different returns. At the same time, the central banks of developing countries do not have this opportunity due to the fact that the asset may be needed at any time, therefore it must be as liquid as possible, and therefore they are forced to limit their assets only to such instruments, for example, by creating gold and foreign exchange reserves.

At the same time, in countries with a high level of devaluation of national currencies, problems with the balance of payments and debt obligations (this can be attributed to Russia and Ukraine), international gold and foreign exchange reserves must be maintained at the proper level: their sharp decline or complete absence can cause a rapid depreciation national currency, a powerful economic downturn and even default. The latter - in the event that other internal or external sources to pay off debt obligations.

Now you have a more complete understanding of what gold and foreign exchange reserves are, what their structure is, how they are formed and what they can be used for. On many issues here I have expressed my subjective point of view; you, of course, have the right to agree or disagree with it. I will be glad to hear your opinion in the comments.

Gold and foreign exchange reserve Russia has a strategic reserve in the form of diamonds, major convertible foreign currencies, reserve positions, special drawing rights, and other highly liquid assets. It can be used government agencies monetary regulation to maintain the ruble exchange rate, finance the balance of payments deficit, and support the domestic economy. It is made up of reserves of the Government (Ministry of Finance) and the Central Bank.

The laws of the market do not imply a stable, predictable, planned flow. On the contrary, peaks, recessions, and cyclical development are natural for the modern world economy. To smooth out the consequences of a sharp drop, to nourish financial system To stimulate production, many countries accumulate part of their funds in national gold and foreign exchange reserves. Their global reserve is equivalent to 12 trillion dollars.

Size by country

Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves in 2014 (as of August 1) amounted to $468.4 billion. This is the sixth highest figure among all countries. So significant amount allows for relatively painless transfer economic downturns, invest in long-term promising projects, use funds in emergency situations. It should be noted that the stock at this historical stage is decreasing (by 4 billion in the last week of July).

• The world's "locomotive" - ​​the People's Republic of China - has the largest savings. The country is increasing its strategic reserve. It increased by 3.09% in 2013, reaching $3.8 trillion.
• Japan has three times smaller reserves: in February 2014 they amounted to $1.288 trillion.
• at the beginning of 2014 it had a reserve of $771.789 billion.
• More than Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves, its reserves Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.
• The US reserve in February 2014 amounted to $146.057 billion (18th place).

Structure

The principle of forming a “gold and currency basket” presupposes the presence in the reserve of the most liquid currencies, monetary gold and other precious metals, international financial assets. Exchange rates are interconnected, so if one currency in a pair becomes cheaper, the second becomes proportionately more expensive. As a result, the reserve fund does not lose anything. The structure of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves is constantly changing, following trends in the global economy. Previously, reserves were based on precious metals and the US dollar. With the introduction of a common European currency, the euro significantly displaced the dollar.

Too much dependence on the US dollar forces countries to diversify their reserves. Russia invites interested states to adopt (create) an alternative global currency. At the same time, the share of currencies of other leading countries in the basket is expanding. For example, the reserve has been significantly replenished with the Canadian dollar and Japanese yen.

• The share of foreign currency is about 85%. For example, in the 1st quarter of 2013, the US dollar accounted for 44.7%, the euro - 40.3%, the pound sterling - 9.9%, the Canadian dollar - 2.3%, and the yen - 1%.
• Monetary gold - 8.9%.
• Special borrowing funds - 2%.
• IMF reserve positions - 1%.

Gold reserves

Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves are based not only on currency. Diamonds and precious metals are also included in the reserve structure. These are bars of gold, palladium, silver, and platinum. Gold is the most popular investment in the long term. Although he market price subject to large fluctuations, in times of crisis the “yellow metal” becomes the most reliable means of payment.

Countries have different assessments of the feasibility of accumulating funds in gold bullion. On the one hand, they are indispensable in conditions of serious economic crisis and possible war. On the other hand, they lie in storage as dead weight, instead of working for the economy. For example, in the United States, more than 70% of the reserve is gold, and in China it is 1.1%. Russia leads the CIS in terms of gold reserves - 1040.7 tons. However, it is 8 times less than what is stored in the USA.

Volumes of gold reserves, 2014

Dynamics

The Russian economy is largely built around the extraction and sale of raw materials. The government has taken a principled position - it wants to move away from the resource-based economy model and develop high-tech production. This will take years and multi-billion dollar investments. So far, Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves are based on the sale of minerals and their derivatives. A significant share of exports are hydrocarbons (oil, gas), petroleum products and metals.

If you analyze Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves, the dynamics can be clearly seen. It is highly dependent on the market for raw materials in the world, especially in Europe, the main consumer of Russian gas and oil. For example, in 1999, a historical minimum of the reserve fund was recorded - $10.7 billion. That same year, oil prices were at their lowest in 25 years, hovering around $10 per barrel.

All-time high

By 2007, there was a sharp demand for oil. In July 2008, a record price for the “OPEC basket” (the arithmetic average of prices per barrel of different types of oil) was recorded - $140.73. tied to oil prices, accordingly, and it skyrocketed. The government was not ready to absorb the gushing flow of currency. It was decided to accumulate part of the excess income into a gold and foreign exchange reserve. In August 2008, the size of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves reached a historical maximum - $598.1 billion.

Today's day

Today's foreign policy situation and the decline in prices for Natural resources forcing the government to use part of the reserves to support the economy, strengthen the army, provide security. If Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves on 03/2014/07 amounted to 494.6 billion dollars, then by August they dropped to 468.4 billion. Obviously, reserves for their increase are not expected in the near future. However, the net size of gold and foreign exchange reserves is not an indicator of economic efficiency. If funds are spent on modernization, Scientific research, are invested in investments, then the money spent today will return tomorrow in the form of new technologies, modern production, improved living standards, and increased security of the country.

Expert at the Center for Scientific Political Thought and Ideology Lyudmila Kravchenko

Among Russian economists There have long been debates about the fate of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves. The liberal wing in power takes the position that reserves must be kept as a cushion for a rainy day and stored in the most stable assets, even despite low returns. Investing them in the economy, according to representatives of this school, is unacceptable, since this is our reserve, the desire to save which explained the collapse of the ruble due to the self-destruction of the Bank of Russia. The level of the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves should ideally satisfy the Reddy criterion: cover the amount for servicing interest on external debt and the volume of three months of imports. Russian reserves are several times higher than this level. Excess funds could be directed into the economy, to finance the domestic manufacturing industry, but instead they support foreign ones. In fact, firstly, their use does not correspond to the national interests of the country when funds are withdrawn from the economy for the sake of the interests of another state. Secondly, the income from such placement is minimal - less than 1%. Thirdly, under the conditions of sanctions, the likelihood of seizure of Russian gold and foreign exchange assets (on deposits of foreign banks, investments in foreign debentures) is large, therefore, the unchanged structure of Russian reserves gives rise to great threats and risks.

In the structure of Russian reserves, the dominant place is occupied by assets in foreign currency, mainly investments in securities, and only about 11% (as of December 1, according to the Central Bank - 10.8%) is monetary gold (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Structure of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves (according to IMF data)

Russia already ranks 7th in the world in terms of volumes of monetary gold and continues to actively increase the volume of gold bars since the end of 2007. Maximum magnification monetary gold occurred against the backdrop of the crisis of 2009 and the following 2010, when the government was faced with the depreciation of reserves in securities and switched to gold bullion. A new stage of active growth of gold reserves began in 2014 against the backdrop of sanctions imposed against Russia. For two quarters in a row, the Central Bank purchased 50 tons of gold, becoming the record holder for gold purchases this year (Fig. 2). However, the share of gold in Russian reserves is still extremely low, in contrast to European countries and the United States, where more than 50% of gold and foreign exchange reserves consist of gold bars. Undoubtedly, the main advantage of monetary gold is the security of these assets, since they are stored in Central Bank and foreign the state has no leverage over them. The weakness is that gold is a commodity whose value depends on global market conditions. As the price of gold declines on the world market, the value of gold and foreign exchange reserves will fall. But an analysis of historical statistical series shows that the price of gold bars is growing in a long-term trend.

Fig.2. Volumes of gold in the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves, in tons (according to the World Gold Council)

The main share of Russian reserves is concentrated in foreign securities (about 75%). Absolutely all investments in securities come from countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia, with two countries accounting for 62.3% of all securities: France and the United States. It is obvious that 75% of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves are potentially at risk, and if the situation escalates and the sanctions war continues, an extreme measure may be taken - blocking reserves concentrated in securities. For example, with regard to American securities, a decision by the US Treasury Department to block transactions with such securities, which will be implemented by a special unit of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), is sufficient. Then the payment of interest on securities will stop, obstacles will be created to conduct transactions with securities, or conditions will be created under which Russia will be forced to sell securities on the market only at a large discount.

Fig. 3. Geographical distribution of foreign exchange reserves, as of January 1, 201 (according to the Central Bank)

In March, against the background of the introduction of the first sanctions and restrictive measures, Russia withdrew part of its assets from American debt obligations and from the deposits of American banks. Thus, investments in treasury securities decreased by $26 billion to $100.6 billion (by October they increased to 108.9), in the accounts of American banks almost three times - to $8 billion (by October they increased to 15.68 billion) . The withdrawal of funds, based on the analysis of intervention statistics, was not only a reaction to sanctions and an attempt to either secure assets or cause damage, but also the need to obtain foreign currency from the sale of bonds in order to intervene in the domestic foreign exchange market, which in March 2014 amounted to 26. $3 billion. In total, over this year, reserves decreased by $90.7 billion, of which the Central Bank spent $82.58 billion on foreign exchange interventions, this is the price to pay for the untimely adoption of tough measures and support for speculation in the market. The Central Bank's inconsistent policies reduced reserves by 19%.

In terms of currencies, the Bank of Russia equalizes the positions of the euro against dollars: for example, at the beginning of the year, 44.8% of the Bank of Russia’s reserve currency assets were denominated in US dollars, 41.5% in euros, 9.3% in pounds sterling, and 9.3% in Canadian dollars. in dollars - 3.3% and in Australian dollars - 1.1%.

A diversified structure across currencies reduces currency risk However, in 2014, due to the strengthening of the dollar, Russian reserves in dollar terms fell by almost 6%.

The yield on reserve currency assets (in securities and in foreign bank accounts) is extremely low: for dollar - 0.25% per annum, for euro - 0.04%, pound - 0.2%, yen - 0.08%, Canadian dollar – 1.2% and Australian dollar – 2.85%. In fact, funds in securities and on bank deposits give a total return of less than a percent - 0.18%, which is equivalent to simple savings without growth.

The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves are funds accumulated and withdrawn from the domestic economy, invested in foreign ones with practically zero profitability. Russia's reserves are quite sufficient to ensure macroeconomic stability and stimulate economic growth. But hopes that they can be used to influence the global market have not yet been justified: Russia owns only 1.8% of American debt obligations, less than 3.6% of world monetary gold. For comparison, China owns 20.66% of American treasury securities, and gold reserves are equal to Russian ones. Now, under the conditions of sanctions, Russia is faced with the task of changing the structure of reserves: a consistent increase in gold and the withdrawal of assets from foreign securities, including for the redemption of assets of the Russian economy owned by foreign investors. If the Central Bank does not change the policy of forming gold and foreign exchange reserves, then the threat of seizure of Russian assets, as was done in relation to the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Libya and Iran, will remain extremely high.

ABOUT gold and foreign exchange reserves often mentioned in the news and in interviews with politicians and economists. The popularity of gold and foreign exchange reserves is due to the fact that they play a huge role in managing the country’s economy. They can be compared to personal savings, which act as a safety net: they allow you to survive difficult periods without shocks and make financial and economic policy more flexible in favorable times.

If we follow the formal definition, Gold and foreign exchange reserves are the official holdings of gold and foreign currency of central banks and treasuries. However, reserves are not stored in the form of banknotes and gold bars “in a warehouse”, as this is not only ineffective, but also risky. In order to preserve and increase reserve funds, they are invested in various assets. What these assets are and what the Central Bank is guided by when choosing them will be discussed in this article.

Structure of gold and foreign exchange (international) reserves

If we analyze the statistics and summarize the currently available information on the storage of gold and foreign exchange reserves, it turns out that it is mainly carried out in the following types of assets:

- gold;
- specific assets: special drawing rights (Special Drawing Rights, or SDR) and IMF reserve positions;
- currency (literally) on bank accounts;
— securities (both government and non-government);
— bank deposits;
— REPO transactions (purchase/sale of securities with an obligation to resell/purchase).

The last 4 items on this list are often combined and called foreign exchange reserves . Despite the fact that formally, in addition to currency in the literal sense, there are other assets here (securities, funds for bank deposits and repo transactions), they are united by the fact that they are all denominated in foreign currency. Therefore, collectively they are called foreign exchange reserves.

Typically, statistical data on gold and foreign exchange reserves are presented in US dollars, for which all assets included in the reserves are recalculated at their market prices in dollars. Thus, according to the Central Bank, as of January 1, 2009, the volume international reserves Russia amounted to $427 billion, more than 96% of which accounts for the foreign exchange part. The distribution by asset type is presented in Diagram 1:

It should be noted that the share of reserves that the Central Bank invests in one or another type of asset changes from time to time. At the same time, the Central Bank is guided by the goals of its current policy. Thus, in good times, the Central Bank tries to invest funds in more profitable assets, and in difficult times - in more liquid ones, i.e. quickly convertible into money. Separately, it should be said that when choosing both suitable types of assets and specific securities or transactions within each type, the Central Bank is guided by the restrictions of the law. These restrictions oblige invest gold and foreign exchange reserves only in highly reliable securities , the probability of non-payment for which is minimal.

More information about the currency portion of reserves

In addition to the distribution by asset type, gold and foreign exchange reserves can be distributed by type of currency (however, this only applies to the foreign exchange part of reserves). Despite the fact that the foreign exchange portion of reserves (or, what is the same thing, foreign exchange reserves) is given in dollars in statistics, in reality they can be denominated in different currencies. For example, one part of securities, bank deposits and repo transactions are denominated in euros, another - in , the third - in Japanese yen, etc. The main currencies are the US dollar, euro, pound sterling, Japanese yen and Swiss franc.

Thus, solving the problem of investing funds in the currency part gold and foreign exchange reserves, Central Bank chooses not only what types of assets to invest in, but also what currencies these assets will be denominated in. Foreign exchange reserves (as of January 1, 2009) were distributed by the Bank of Russia as follows: 41.5% are denominated in US dollars, 47.5% in euros, 9.7% in pounds sterling, 1.3% in .

Summary

So, gold and foreign exchange reserves are not stored in a warehouse simply in the form of gold and cash. Reserves are invested in various assets , which can be divided into 3 types: gold, IMF special assets and foreign exchange reserves. In turn, foreign exchange reserves are divided into currency in the literal sense, various securities, deposits and repo transactions. Any of the currency assets can be denominated in euros, US dollars, Japanese yen, pounds sterling or Swiss francs.

When deciding what types of assets to invest reserve funds in, the Central Bank is guided by the goals of financial and economic policy, as well as laws that limit his choice only to reliable assets.

For a snack

In the article we mentioned that, despite the variety of assets in which reserves can be stored, when summing up statistical results they are revalued at market prices in US dollars. Market prices tend to fluctuate, and with them the volume of gold and foreign exchange reserves may fluctuate.