The Riksbank manages financial assets primarily in order to ensure that it is able to achieve its statutory objectives. For monetary policy purposes, the Riksbank should therefore be able to buy or sell foreign currency so that it can influence the exchange rate for the Swedish krona. In order to safeguard financial stability, it is also necessary to be able to provide temporary liquidity assistance to banks in both kronor and foreign currencies. The Riksbank also provides loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in turn lends money to developing countries and countries experiencing a financial crisis.
The Riksbank's financial assets consist of the gold reserve and the foreign exchange reserve, including receivables from the IMF, assets relating to the Riksbank's monetary policy activities and other financial assets. The foreign exchange reserve and the gold reserve are normally the largest asset items and those that are most affected in the course of the Riksbank's ongoing asset management activities.
The assets in the gold and foreign exchange reserves are managed so that the Riksbank can always fulfil its tasks and commitments. This imposes certain limitations on asset management, but otherwise the assets are managed in precisely the same way as at any other asset manager: that is with the aim of providing the highest possible return in relation to the risk taken.
Each year, the Riksbank decides on the strategic focus for asset management. This covers, for example, what the allocation of the various currencies and assets in the foreign exchange reserve should be and the average time to maturity that the assets in the foreign exchange reserve should have. In connection with this, the Riksbank also decides by how great a margin the asset managers may deviate from the level set for strategic asset management in the effort to achieve a higher return. This tactical management is evaluated using a benchmark index.