Official Reserve AssetsFebruary 2024

Table 1: Presents data on official reserve assets denominated in Australian dollars.

Table 2: Expresses these figures in US dollar terms.

Changes in the value of official reserve assets reflect purchases and sales (including swaps) of foreign exchange by the Reserve Bank, earnings on foreign securities and valuation effects arising from changes in the foreign currency value of the assets and exchange rates.

Table 1: Official Reserve Assets
(A$ million)
This table presents Australian dollar data on the level and composition of the Reserve Bank's Official Reserve Assets (ORA) holdings as at the end of the relevant month. Total ORA is disaggregated into foreign exchange, Special Drawing Rights, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund and gold.
End of Foreign
exchange
SDRs Reserve
position in
the IMF
Gold Other reserve assets Total
2022
Dec 56,797 18,176 3,823 4,900 1,748 85,445
2023
Jan 54,212 18,044 3,739 5,967 2,517 84,478
Feb 52,482 19,008 3,832 6,437 3,251 85,011
Mar 54,193 19,336 3,918 6,910 3,187 87,543
Apr 58,517 19,715 3,994 6,834 3,337 92,398
May 55,605 19,822 4,016 6,022 3,407 88,871
Jun 55,673 19,732 3,848 6,019 4,141 89,415
Jul 57,191 19,716 3,894 6,439 3,790 91,030
Aug 59,266 20,191 3,974 7,402 4,042 94,876
Sep 55,349 20,007 3,863 7,066 4,129 90,414
Oct 56,553 20,367 3,836 7,375 4,015 92,146
Nov 57,173 19,852 3,731 7,372 4,043 92,171
Dec 59,791 19,310 3,656 7,510 3,648 93,916
2024
Jan 53,279 19,895 3,757 8,019 4,408 89,359
Feb 53,883 20,063 3,775 8,067 4,740 90,527
Table 2: Official Reserve Assets
(US$ million)
This table presents US dollar data on the level and composition of the Reserve Bank's Official Reserve Assets (ORA) holdings as at the end of the relevant month. Total ORA is disaggregated into foreign exchange, Special Drawing Rights, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund and gold.
End of Foreign
exchange
SDRs Reserve
position in
the IMF
Gold Other reserve assets Total
2022
Dec 38,480 12,314 2,590 3,320 1,185 57,889
2023
Jan 38,149 12,697 2,631 4,199 1,772 59,447
Feb 35,320 12,792 2,579 4,332 2,188 57,212
Mar 36,375 12,978 2,629 4,638 2,139 58,759
Apr 38,679 13,032 2,640 4,517 2,206 61,075
May 36,115 12,874 2,608 3,911 2,213 57,722
Jun 36,911 13,082 2,552 3,991 2,746 59,282
Jul 38,215 13,174 2,602 4,303 2,533 60,826
Aug 38,434 13,094 2,577 4,800 2,621 61,527
Sep 35,744 12,921 2,494 4,563 2,667 58,389
Oct 35,888 12,925 2,434 4,680 2,548 58,476
Nov 38,009 13,197 2,481 4,901 2,688 61,275
Dec 40,897 13,208 2,500 5,137 2,496 64,238
2024
Jan 35,026 13,079 2,470 5,272 2,898 58,745
Feb 35,126 13,079 2,461 5,259 3,090 59,014

Notes

  • ‘Other reserve assets’ include the market value of derivatives with non-resident entities, holdings in the Asian Bond Fund, loans to the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), and holdings in the deposit and loan accounts of the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST).
  • The A$ values shown for SDRs and Reserve position in the IMF are at the IMF basket valuation for the SDR, which is published in terms of US dollars and crossed with the representative rate for the Australian dollar in terms of the US dollar. Gold is valued at the Australian dollar equivalent of the 3 pm price fix in the London gold market on the last business day of the month. The foreign currency value of other overseas assets is based, where applicable, on market quotations; accrued interest is normally taken into account. Conversion to Australian dollar equivalent normally is based on end month market rates of exchange. Figures in Table 2 have been converted to US dollar values using the end-month AUD/USD exchange rate.
  • The sum of gold and foreign exchange may differ from figures reported in the weekly Reserve Bank of Australia Balance Sheet and the Bank's Annual Report. From 1 July 1996, foreign currency securities sold and cash lent under repurchase agreements as well as gold lent under gold loan transactions are retained for accounting purposes as foreign currency investments in the Bank's balance sheet, along with cash received under repurchase agreements, in accordance with standard accounting treatment. For the purpose of reporting foreign exchange reserves in this table, however, securities sold and cash lent under repurchase agreements are excluded along with gold lent under gold loan transactions. Foreign currency securities received under repurchase agreements are excluded from both the RBA's balance sheet and from official reserve assets. Holdings in the Asian Bond Fund and the market value of derivatives with non-resident entities are included in Other Reserve Assets for the purposes of reporting official reserve assets but are included under Gold and Foreign Exchange for reporting on RBA's balance sheet.
  • The above data are based on information available at the time of publication and are subject to revision. The sum of components may not reconcile with the total amount for Official Reserve Assets due to rounding.
  • Additional data on Australia's Foreign Exchange Transactions and Holdings of Official Reserve Assets will be available on the Reserve Bank's website on the third Thursday of the month and data on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity will be available on the last business day of the month.
  • For information on changes to the RBA's methodology for compiling Australia's foreign reserve holdings from January 2015, please see ‘Reporting Australia's Foreign Reserve Holdings’.