New Zealand's official overseas reserves (E1)

The data: coverage, periodicity and timeliness

Coverage characteristics

Data are disseminated in millions of New Zealand dollars. The series start from January 1993.

Data includes Reserve Bank/Treasury foreign currency reserves: securities, cash and deposits, total and total foreign currency reserves, other reserve assets, gold, reserve position at IMF, special drawing rights, total official reserves and other foreign currency assets.

Periodicity

Monthly

Timeliness

We publish data five working days after the end of the reference month.

Access by the public

Statistics release calendar

The statistics release calendar provides a long-term plan of scheduled releases. We update and release it on the first working day of the month.

View the statistics release calendar

Integrity

Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including confidentiality of individual responses

New Zealand's reporting of international reserves has been modified for March 2000 data onwards to conform to the standards required by the IMF for the purpose of subscription to the Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS).

Provision of information about revisions and advance notice of major changes in methodology

Provisional data are italicised. Data are deemed provisional when a series is under review. New data, or revised data, are in bold font. This applies to the summary table only and not Excel files. We generally publish revisions when we are next due to update and release the table. Should we need to make revisions more promptly, we will post a special note.

We have amended the definitions and presentation of international reserves data published in table E1 to conform to the SDDS standards and mapped the E1 presentation to the SDDS template. Any major changes in methodology will be posted in ‘Additional notes’.

Quality

Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics

Data is provided from our accounting systems and those of NZDMO, and are prepared in accordance with the IMF data template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity.

View background on SDDS

Dissemination of statistics that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness

This table is a summary of the IMF Template

Additional notes

New Zealand's reporting of international reserves has been modified for March 2000 data onwards to conform to the standards required by the IMF for the purpose of subscription to the Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS). The IMF prescribes the format for presentation of this data for SDDS purposes in a data template on international reserves and foreign currency liquidity. This template conveys more comprehensive information on international reserves than previously provided for New Zealand's international reserves. We will update it each month and disseminate it on our website before the end of the following month.

We have amended the definitions and presentation of international reserves data published in table E1 to conform to the SDDS standards and mapped the E1 presentation to the SDDS template.

Changes to E1 and IMF Template (SDDS)

18 June 2007

After consultation with the IMF, we have revised the E1 series and IMF Template (SDDS) to reflect the following changes:

• A reclassification of investments previously included in 'Deposits' to 'Securities' and 'Other reserve assets'. This change has no effect on total foreign currency reserves.
• Securities lent under securities lending agent arrangements have been reclassified from 'Other reserve assets' to 'Securities'. This change has no effect on total foreign currency reserves.
• The inclusion of the net market value of liquidity management swaps in 'Other reserve assets'. The inclusion of this amount will change the total foreign currency reserves figure.

We have made revisions from September 2005 to April 2007. The changes have no material effect prior to September 2005.

30 December 2009

We have made revisions to table E1 and the IMF SDDS template due to cash collateral received (which are repayable to the counterparty when market conditions change or the underlying transactions mature and are settled) being reclassified as an illiquid asset, and consequently removed from Official Reserve Assets.

These revisions affect the months from October 2008 to July 2009.

Changes in liquidity management

Some of our balance sheet, foreign currency asset and liquidity management data series disseminated monthly have recently begun to reflect changes made this year to our liquidity management policy.

We are phasing in a new approach to liquidity management policy. Increasing liquidity needs of the banking system at a time when availability of government securities was declining, have prompted us to move away from a system relying on bank holdings of government debt as the basis for generating the cash needed to facilitate interbank settlement of payments.

Reform of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's Liquidity Management Operations, 2006 (PDF 282 KB)

In February 2006, we increased the level of settlement cash in the system to $2 billion to meet immediate needs. From July 2006, the level of settlement cash will be increased further over time to a likely range of $5-7 billion. This new liquidity management policy manifests in our balance sheet and foreign currency reserves, with larger domestic liabilities matched by larger foreign exchange assets. At present we are holding foreign currency assets as the counterpart to the increased settlement cash made available to the domestic banks. The foreign exchange risk on the foreign currency assets is hedged, using off-balance sheet transactions (foreign exchange swaps).

Securities

Highly liquid, marketable equity and debt securities, issued by non-resident entities. Excludes securities lent under repurchase agreements (repo). Includes securities lent under securities lending agent arrangements that are liquid and available on demand.

Cash and deposits

Short-term deposits/loans with foreign central banks, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and other banks that are redeemable on demand.

Total

The sum of the above components. For us, this includes the impact of currency swaps undertaken as part of our domestic liquidity management operations (for example, if NZD is lent and USD borrowed, then USD deposits/securities are increased accordingly; if NZD is borrowed and swapped into USD, then USD deposits/securities are increased accordingly).

Total foreign currency reserves

Total New Zealand foreign currency reserves (the sum of the above for both the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Treasury). Note that the Treasury reserves are a hedging instrument for an existing liability portfolio and will diminish over time as liabilities mature. In the interim, however, they are available for intervention should the need arise.

Other reserve assets

Other assets that are readily liquid and available for use as reserve assets, but not included in other categories. Includes:

• the net, marked-to-market value of highly liquid financial derivative positions with non-residents, where such derivative products pertain to the management of reserve assets (such derivative positions denominated and settled in foreign currency)
• short-term foreign currency loans redeemable on demand provided to non-bank non-residents
• reverse-repo assets. We use these instruments in our management of our foreign reserves and consider these fully equivalent for these purposes to all other foreign currency reserve assets.

Gold

Gold held by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Treasury as a reserve asset.

Reserve position at IMF

The reserve tranche position. The sum of:

1. SDR and foreign currency amounts that New Zealand may draw from the IMF at short notice and without condition from its ‘reserve tranche'
2. indebtedness of the IMF (under a loan agreement) readily available to New Zealand including New Zealand's lending to the IMF under the General Arrangements to Borrow (GAB) and the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB). Effectively the amount of foreign currency that a member has invested in the IMF.

Special drawing rights

SDRs are international reserve assets the IMF has created to supplement the reserves of IMF member countries. SDRs are allocated in proportion to each country's respective quota.

Total official reserves

The sum of all components identified above.

Other foreign currency assets

Includes foreign currency securities issued by institutions headquartered and located in New Zealand; all other securities/deposits/financial derivative positions/loans/gold not included in official reserve assets.

Quota

The IMF is a quota-based institution. Each member of the IMF is assigned a quota, which is expressed in SDRs (special drawing rights) and is equal to its subscription of capital to the IMF. The sum of members quotas thus represents the pool of assets (gold, SDRs and currencies) held by the IMF. When a country becomes a member of the IMF, an amount not exceeding 25% of its quota has to be paid in SDRs or usable currencies (‘reserve assets’) specified by the IMF and the balance in the member's own currency, normally in the form of non-negotiable, non-interest-bearing notes (essentially promissory notes). When quotas are increased, 25% of each member's increase is normally payable in SDRs, although the IMF may accept payment in other members' currencies or the member's own currency. The balance of the quota increase is payable in the member's currency.

NZ currency subscription

That portion of the quota subscribed for in NZD.

Other

That portion of the quota subscribed for using other acceptable reserve assets.

IMF holdings of NZ currency

NZ currency subscription plus reserve tranche drawings outstanding.

Reserve tranche position

The portion of a member's quota paid in reserve assets (effectively the amount of foreign currency that a member has invested in the IMF). Reflects the reserve assets that a member has transferred to the IMF and is measured by the extent that the member's quota exceeds the IMF's holdings of its currency. A member may draw up to the full amount of its reserve tranche position at any time (subject only to its representation to the IMF that it has a balance of payments need) by transferring to the IMF an equivalent amount of its own currency. Such a drawing does not constitute a use of IMF credit, as a member's reserve position is considered part of the member's foreign reserves, and is not subject to an obligation to repay.

Drawings outstanding – reserve tranche

Borrowing by New Zealand, from the IMF, of the subscriptions paid by New Zealand in other than NZD (such borrowings are covered by a payment of NZD to the IMF, included in IMF holdings of NZ currency (above)).

Special drawing rights position

Allocations

The cumulative allocation of SDRs to New Zealand, representing a claim of the IMF against New Zealand.

Holdings

SDRs that New Zealand currently holds.

SDR value

NZ/SDR exchange rate. The IMF's unit of account is the special drawing right (SDR), an international reserve asset created by the IMF and allocated to its members since 1970 in proportion to their respective quotas, whose value is calculated daily on the basis of a ‘valuation basket’ comprising G5 currencies. The SDR valuation basket is normally reviewed every five years.

Symbols and conventions for summary table

General notes

• Individual figures may not sum to the totals due to rounding
• Percentage changes are calculated on unrounded numbers
• You are free to copy, distribute and adapt these statistics subject to the conditions listed on our copyright page.