This update of the guidelines published in 2001 sets forth the underlying framework for the Reserves Data Template and provides operational advice for its use. The updated version also includes three new appendices aimed at assisting member countries in reporting the required data.

This update of the guidelines published in 2001 sets forth the underlying framework for the Reserves Data Template and provides operational advice for its use. The updated version also includes three new appendices aimed at assisting member countries in reporting the required data.

International financial crises in the late 1990s revealed that deficiencies in countrieѕђة́ international reserves and related information made it difficult to anticipate and respond to crises by obscuring financial weaknesses and imbalances. This volume sets forth an innovative framework to assess countrieѕђة́ international reserves and foreign currency liquidity. The framework takes account of official balance sheet and off-balance-sheet financial activities, future and potential demand for foreign exchange to meet official obligations, the availability of official foreign currency assets to meet such demand, and official risk exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. This work clarifies what international reserves are, and how international reserves and related information should be strengthened to promote informed decision making in the public and private sectors, thereby helping improve the functioning of global financial markets.

International financial crises in the late 1990s revealed that deficiencies in countries' international reserves and related information made it difficult to anticipate and respond to crises by obscuring financial weaknesses and imbalances. This volume sets forth an innovative framework to assess countries' international reserves and foreign currency liquidity. The framework takes account of official balance sheet and off-balance-sheet financial activities, future and potential demand for foreign exchange to meet official obligations, the availability of official foreign currency assets to meet such demand, and official risk exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. This work clarifies what international reserves are, and how international reserves and related information should be strengthened to promote informed decision making in the public and private sectors, thereby helping improve the functioning of global financial markets.

These guidelines are intended to assist countries in strengthening their policy frameworks for reserve management so that they can become more resilient to shocks that may originate from global financial markets or within the domestic financial system. The guidelines have been developed as part of a broader IMF work program to help strengthen international financial architecture, to promote policies and practices that contribute to stability and transparency in the financial sector, and to reduce external vulnerabilities of member countries.

Foreign exchange intervention (FXI) is a highly debated topic. Yet, comprehensive and comparable data on FXI is hard to find. This paper provides a new dataset of FXI covering a large number of countries over the period 2000-20 at monthly and quarterly frequencies. It includes publicly available data for about 40 countries and carefully constructed proxies for 122 countries. Proxies are focused on both spot and derivative transactions that alter the central bank’s foreign currency position and account for a wide range of central bank operations, including vis-à-vis residents, the first proxy to do so to our knowledge. The paper discusses the merits of the new proxy relative to coarser measures traditionally used like the change in reserves, and potential definitional differences with published data. The paper also presents stylized facts using our newly constructed FXI proxies.