IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecb/ecbops/200773.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Reserve accumulation: objective or by-product?

Author

Listed:
  • de Beaufort Wijnholds, Johannes Onno
  • Søndergaard, Lars

Abstract

This paper examines whether the level of reserves in emerging market countries has become excessive. It presents a discussion of "adequacy" versus "excessive" levels of reserves, and presents calculations of reserve adequacy for a large number of emerging market countries. Two categories of countries can be distinguished: i) those whose reserves have grown on account of a need for self-insurance against financial crises, and which tend to be reasonably in line with adequacy measures (mainly Latin American countries and countries in central and eastern Europe), and ii) those whose reserve accumulation is nowadays primarily the result of rapid export-led growth supported by a lack of exchange rate flexibility. This is especially the case for several emerging Asian countries, whose reserve levels have grown far beyond what can reasonably considered adequate. Various opinions on Asian exchange rate and reserves policies are examined, and the costs and benefits of currency undervaluation are assessed. Attention is also paid to the composition of the reserves. The paper concludes by bringing together the various strands of the analysis and enumerating the main implications of largescale reserve accumulation for the international monetary system. JEL Classification: F31, F41

Suggested Citation

  • de Beaufort Wijnholds, Johannes Onno & Søndergaard, Lars, 2007. "Reserve accumulation: objective or by-product?," Occasional Paper Series 73, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbops:200773
    Note: 363347
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/pdf/scpops/ecbocp73.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mehl, Arnaud & Geis, André & Wredenborg, Stefan, 2004. "The international role of the euro: evidence from bonds issued by non-euro area residents," Occasional Paper Series 18, European Central Bank.
    2. Wolswijk, Guido & de Haan, Jakob, 2005. "Government debt management in the euro area - recent theoretical developments and changes in practices," Occasional Paper Series 25, European Central Bank.
    3. Anderton, Robert & di Mauro, Filippo & Moneta, Fabio, 2004. "Understanding the impact of the external dimension on the euro area: trade, capital flows and other international macroeconomic linkages," Occasional Paper Series 12, European Central Bank.
    4. Henrik Enderlein & Johannes Lindner & Oscar Calvo-Gonzales & Raymond Ritter, 2006. "The EU Budget: How much Scope for Institutional Reform?," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Designing the New European Union, pages 129-159, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    5. Ehrmann, Michael & Smets, Frank & Altissimo, Filippo, 2006. "Inflation persistence and price-setting behaviour in the euro area: a summary of the IPN evidence," Occasional Paper Series 46, European Central Bank.
    6. Thimann, Christian & Mazzaferro, Francesco & Mehl, Arnaud & Sturm, Michael & Winkler, Adalbert, 2002. "Economic relations with regions neighbouring the euro area in the "euro time zone"," Occasional Paper Series 7, European Central Bank.
    7. Nicholai Benalal & Juan Luis Diaz del Hoyo & Beatrice Pierluigi & Nikiforos Vidalis, 2006. "Output growth differentials across the euro area countries - some stylised facts," Occasional Paper Series 45, European Central Bank.
    8. Nadine Leiner-Killinger & Víctor López Pérez & Roger Stiegert & Giovanni Vitale, 2007. "Structural reforms in EMU and the role of monetary policy – a survey of the literature," Occasional Paper Series 66, European Central Bank.
    9. Olga Arratibel & Frigyes Ferdinand Heinz & Reiner Martin & Marcin Przybyla & Lucasz Rawdanowicz & Roberta Serafini & Tina Zumer, 2007. "Determinants of growth in the central and eastern European EU member states - a production function approach," Occasional Paper Series 61, European Central Bank.
    10. Carlos Bowles & Roberta Friz & Veronique Genre & Geoff Kenny & Aidan Meyler & Tuomas Rautanen, 2007. "The ECB survey of professional forecasters (SPF) – A review after eight years’ experience," Occasional Paper Series 59, European Central Bank.
    11. Arratibel, Olga & Heinz, Frigyes Ferdinand & Martin, Reiner & Przybyla, Marcin & Rawdanowicz, Lukasz & Serafini, Roberta & Zumer, Tina, 2007. "Determinants of growth in the central and eastern European EU member states - a production function approach," Occasional Paper Series 61, European Central Bank.
    12. Frank Dierick & Fatima Pires & Martin Scheicher & Kai Gereon Spitzer, 2005. "The New Basel Capital Framework and its implementation in the European Union," Occasional Paper Series 42, European Central Bank.
    13. Willman, Alpo & Whelan, Karl & Altissimo, Filippo & Georgiou, Evaggelia & Sastre, Teresa & Valderrama, Maria Teresa & Sterne, Gabriel & Stocker, Marc & Weth, Mark, 2005. "Wealth and asset price effects on economic activity," Occasional Paper Series 29, European Central Bank.
    14. Annenkov, Anatoli & Madaschi, Christophe, 2005. "Labour productivity in the Nordic EU countries: a comparative overview and explanatory factors 1980-2004," Occasional Paper Series 39, European Central Bank.
    15. Genre, Véronique & Momferatou, Daphne & Mourre, Gilles, 2005. "Wage diversity in the euro area - an overview of labour cost differentials across industries," Occasional Paper Series 24, European Central Bank.
    16. González, Fernando & Coppens, François & Winkler, Gerhard, 2007. "The performance of credit rating systems in the assessment of collateral used in Eurosystem monetary policy operations," Occasional Paper Series 65, European Central Bank.
    17. Robert Anderton & Filippo di Mauro & Fabio Moneta, 2004. "Understanding the impact of the external dimension on the euro area - trade, capital flows and other international macroeconomic linkages," Occasional Paper Series 12, European Central Bank.
    18. Francesco Mazzaferro & Arnaud Mehl & Michael Sturm & Christian Thimann & Adalbert Winkler, 2002. "Economic relations with regions neighbouring the euro area in the ‘euro time zone," Occasional Paper Series 07, European Central Bank.
    19. Gonzalez, F. & Haas, F. & Johannes, R. & Persson, M. & Toledo, L. & Violi, R. & Zins, C. & Wieland, M., 2004. "Market dynamics associated with credit ratings: a literature review," Financial Stability Review, Banque de France, issue 4, pages 53-76, June.
    20. Beck, Roland & Kamps, Annette & Mileva, Elitza, 2007. "Long-term growth prospects for the Russian economy," Occasional Paper Series 58, European Central Bank.
    21. François Coppens & Fernando Gonzáles & Gerhard Winkler, 2007. "The performance of credit rating systems in the assessment of collateral used in Eurosystem monetary policy operations," Working Paper Research 118, National Bank of Belgium.
    22. Laganá, Marco & Peřina, Martin & von Köppen-Mertes, Isabel & Persaud, Avinash, 2006. "Implications for liquidity from innovation and transparency in the European corporate bond market," Occasional Paper Series 50, European Central Bank.
    23. Marco Laganá & Martin Perina & Isabel von Köppen-Mertes & Avinash Persaud, 2006. "Implications for liquidity from innovation and transparency in the European corporate bond market," Occasional Paper Series 50, European Central Bank.
    24. Leiner-Killinger, Nadine & Madaschi, Christophe & Ward-Warmedinger, Melanie, 2005. "Trends and patterns in working time across euro area countries 1970-2004: causes and consequences," Occasional Paper Series 41, European Central Bank.
    25. André Geis & Arnaud Mehl & Stefan Wredenborg, 2004. "The international role of the euro - evidence from bonds issued by non-euro area residents," Occasional Paper Series 18, European Central Bank.
    26. Benalal, Nicholai & Diaz del Hoyo, Juan Luis & Pierluigi, Beatrice & Vidalis, Nick, 2006. "Output growth differentials across the euro area countries: some stylised facts," Occasional Paper Series 45, European Central Bank.
    27. Sturm, Michael & Gurtner, François, 2007. "Fiscal policy in Mediterranean countries: developments, structures and implications for monetary policy," Occasional Paper Series 69, European Central Bank.
    28. Thimann, Christian & Skala, Martin & Wölfinger, Regine, 2007. "The search for Columbus' egg: finding a new formula to determine quotas at the IMF," Occasional Paper Series 70, European Central Bank.
    29. Claus Brand & Dieter Gerdesmeier & Barbara Roffia, 2002. "Estimating the trend of M3 income velocity underlying the reference value for monetary growth," Occasional Paper Series 03, European Central Bank.
    30. Sturm, Michael & Siegfried, Nikolaus, 2005. "Regional monetary integration in the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council," Occasional Paper Series 31, European Central Bank.
    31. Alberto Musso & Thomas Westermann, 2005. "Assessing potential output growth in the euro area - a growth accounting perspective," Occasional Paper Series 22, European Central Bank.
    32. Picón Aguilar, Carmen & Damia, Violetta, 2006. "Quantitative quality indicators for statistics: an application to euro area balance of payment," Occasional Paper Series 54, European Central Bank.
    33. Mongelli, Francesco Paolo & Dorrucci, Ettore & Agur, Itai, 2005. "What does European institutional integration tell us about trade integration?," Occasional Paper Series 40, European Central Bank.
    34. Stiegert, Roger & Leiner-Killinger, Nadine & López Pérez, Víctor & Vitale, Giovanni, 2007. "Structural reforms in EMU and the role of monetary policy: a survey of the literature," Occasional Paper Series 66, European Central Bank.
    35. François Coppens & Fernando Gonzáles & Gerhard Winkler, 2007. "The performance of credit rating systems in the assessment of collateral used in Eurosystem monetary policy operations," Working Paper Research 118, National Bank of Belgium.
    36. Henning Ahnert & Geoff Kenny, 2004. "Quality adjustment of European price statistics and the role for hedonics," Occasional Paper Series 15, European Central Bank.
    37. Russo, Daniela & Hart, Terry L. & Schönenberger, Andreas, 2002. "The evolution of clearing and central counterparty services for exchange-traded derivatives in the United States and Europe: a comparison," Occasional Paper Series 5, European Central Bank.
    38. Kenny, Geoff & Genre, Véronique & Bowles, Carlos & Friz, Roberta & Meyler, Aidan & Rautanen, Tuomas, 2007. "The ECB survey of professional forecasters (SPF) - A review after eight years' experience," Occasional Paper Series 59, European Central Bank.
    39. Dierick, Frank & Pires, Fatima & Scheicher, Martin & Spitzer, Kai Gereon, 2005. "The New Basel Capital Framework and its implementation in the European Union," Occasional Paper Series 42, European Central Bank.
    40. Brand, Claus & Gerdesmeier, Dieter & Roffia, Barbara, 2002. "Estimating the trend of M3 income velocity underlying the reference value for monetary growth," Occasional Paper Series 3, European Central Bank.
    41. Musso, Alberto & Westermann, Thomas, 2005. "Assessing potential output growth in the euro area - a growth accounting perspective, January 2005," Occasional Paper Series 22, European Central Bank.
    42. Kenny, Geoff & Ahnert, Henning, 2004. "Quality adjustment of European price statistics and the role for hedonics," Occasional Paper Series 15, European Central Bank.
    43. Angeloni, Ignazio & Flad, Michael & Mongelli, Francesco Paolo, 2005. "Economic and monetary integration of New Member States - helping to chart the route," Occasional Paper Series 36, European Central Bank.
    44. Francesco Paolo Mongelli & Ettore Dorrucci & Itai Agur, 2005. "What does European institutional integration tell us about trade integration?," Occasional Paper Series 40, European Central Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhichao Zhang & Frankie Chau & Li Xie, 2013. "Accumulation of large foreign reserves in China: a behavioural perspective," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 85-108, March.
    2. Russo, Daniela & Caviglia, Giacomo & Papathanassiou, Chryssa & Rosati, Simonetta, 2007. "Prudential and oversight requirements for securities settlement," Occasional Paper Series 76, European Central Bank.
    3. Sula, Ozan & Oguzoglu, Umut, 2021. "International reserves and economic growth," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 16-28.
    4. Aristovnik, Aleksander & Čeč, Tanja, 2010. "Compositional Analysis Of Foreign Currency Reserves In The 1999-2007 Period. The Euro Vs. The Dollar As Leading Reserve Currency," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(1), pages 165-181, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schmiedel, Heiko, 2007. "The economic impact of the Single Euro Payments Area," Occasional Paper Series 71, European Central Bank.
    2. Thimann, Christian & Skala, Martin & Wölfinger, Regine, 2007. "The search for Columbus' egg: finding a new formula to determine quotas at the IMF," Occasional Paper Series 70, European Central Bank.
    3. Russo, Daniela & Caviglia, Giacomo & Papathanassiou, Chryssa & Rosati, Simonetta, 2007. "Prudential and oversight requirements for securities settlement," Occasional Paper Series 76, European Central Bank.
    4. Sánchez Muñoz, Carlos & Israël, Jean-Marc, 2007. "Towards harmonised balance of payments and international investment position statistics - the experience of the European compilers," Occasional Paper Series 67, European Central Bank.
    5. Hartmann, Philipp & Papaioannou, Elias & Lo Duca, Marco & Heider, Florian, 2007. "The role of financial markets and innovation in productivity and growth in Europe," Occasional Paper Series 72, European Central Bank.
    6. Sturm, Michael & Gurtner, François, 2007. "Fiscal policy in Mediterranean countries: developments, structures and implications for monetary policy," Occasional Paper Series 69, European Central Bank.
    7. Russo, Daniela & Rosati, Simonetta & Chan, Diana & Fontan, Florence, 2007. "The securities custody industry," Occasional Paper Series 68, European Central Bank.
    8. González, Fernando & Coppens, François & Winkler, Gerhard, 2007. "The performance of credit rating systems in the assessment of collateral used in Eurosystem monetary policy operations," Occasional Paper Series 65, European Central Bank.
    9. Van Rixtel, Adrian & Garcí­a, Juan Angel, 2007. "Inflation-linked bonds from a Central Bank perspective," Occasional Paper Series 62, European Central Bank.
    10. Bindseil, Ulrich & Sotamaa, Kai & Amado, Ricardo & Honings, Noëlle & Chiappa, Gigliola & Boux, Bérénice & Föttinger, Wolfgang & Ledoyen, Pierre & Schwartzlose, Henrik & van der Hoorn, Han & Monar, Fer, 2007. "The use of portfolio credit risk models in central banks," Occasional Paper Series 64, European Central Bank.
    11. Arratibel, Olga & Heinz, Frigyes Ferdinand & Martin, Reiner & Przybyla, Marcin & Rawdanowicz, Lukasz & Serafini, Roberta & Zumer, Tina, 2007. "Determinants of growth in the central and eastern European EU member states - a production function approach," Occasional Paper Series 61, European Central Bank.
    12. Kenny, Geoff & Genre, Véronique & Bowles, Carlos & Friz, Roberta & Meyler, Aidan & Rautanen, Tuomas, 2007. "The ECB survey of professional forecasters (SPF) - A review after eight years' experience," Occasional Paper Series 59, European Central Bank.
    13. Stiegert, Roger & Leiner-Killinger, Nadine & López Pérez, Víctor & Vitale, Giovanni, 2007. "Structural reforms in EMU and the role of monetary policy: a survey of the literature," Occasional Paper Series 66, European Central Bank.
    14. Winkler, Adalbert & Geis, André & Böwer, Uwe, 2007. "Commodity price fluctuations and their impact on monetary and fiscal policies in Western and Central Africa," Occasional Paper Series 60, European Central Bank.
    15. di Mauro, Filippo & Baumann, Ursel, 2007. "Globalisation and euro area trade - interactions and challenges," Occasional Paper Series 55, European Central Bank.
    16. Turunen, Jarkko & Musso, Alberto & Stocker, Marc & Gómez-Salvador, Ramón, 2006. "Labour productivity developments in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 53, European Central Bank.
    17. Picón Aguilar, Carmen & Damia, Violetta, 2006. "Quantitative quality indicators for statistics: an application to euro area balance of payment," Occasional Paper Series 54, European Central Bank.
    18. Schuknecht, Ludger & Morris, Richard & Ongena, Hedwig, 2006. "The reform and implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact," Occasional Paper Series 47, European Central Bank.
    19. Winkler, Adalbert & Geisler, Klaus-Dieter & del Río, Pedro & Pouvelle, Cyril & Golden, Brian & Vasjukova, Marina & Szalai, Zoltán & Dijkman, Miquel & Gǎlǎţescu, Anca Adriana & Noč, Matjaž & de-Alessi,, 2006. "Macroeconomic and financial stability challenges for acceding and candidate countries," Occasional Paper Series 48, European Central Bank.
    20. Ehrmann, Michael & Smets, Frank & Altissimo, Filippo, 2006. "Inflation persistence and price-setting behaviour in the euro area: a summary of the IPN evidence," Occasional Paper Series 46, European Central Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    emerging markets; International reserve accumulation;

    JEL classification:

    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbops:200773. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Official Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emieude.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.