Asset management at the Riksbank

The Riksbank manages assets totalling some SEK 200 billion. These are assets that the Riksbank should be able to use to implement monetary policy, buy or sell currency on the foreign exchange market and to provide emergency liquidity assistance to banks if needed. The Riksbank also provides loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in turn lends money to various developing countries.

 

The assets are managed so that the Riksbank can always fulfil its tasks and commitments. Moreover, just like any asset manager, the asset management department endeavours to ensure that the return on the assets will be as high as possible in relation to the risk taken.

 

The Riksbank’s assets can be divided into the foreign exchange reserve, the gold reserve, monetary policy assets, receivables from the IMF and other financial assets.

 

The currency allocation of the foreign exchange reserve (1)

 Picture on the currency allocation of the foreign exchange reserve 

(1) The codes in the diagram are abbreviations of the following currencies: USD – US dollar; EUR – euro; GBP – pound sterling; CAD – Canadian dollar; AUD – Australian dollar; and NOK – Norwegian kronor.

DOCUMENTATION
 
Financial asset management at the Riksbank – Article in Economic Review 2006:1 by Tomas Ernhagen and Fredrik Olsson. | PDF icon 88 Kb
How much equity does a central bank need? – Article in Economic Review 2002:2 by Tomas Ernhagen, Magnus Vesterlund och Staffan Viotti. | PDF icon 86 Kb
Srejber: How the Riksbank's financial assets are managed | PDF icon 271 Kb
INTERNAL LINKS
 
Riksbank reallocates its gold and foreign currency reserve, September 2007
Riksbank reallocates its gold and foreign currency reserve, September 2006
Riksbank changes currency allocation, April 2006
Riksbank reallocates its gold and foreign currency reserve, September 2005
Riksbank reallocates its gold and foreign currency reserve, January 2005


LAST REVIEWED
2/24/2008