The Riksbank primarily manages financial assets as a means of achieving its statutory objectives. In order to safeguard financial stability, it should be ready and able to provide temporary liquidity assistance to banks in both Swedish kronor and foreign currencies. For monetary policy purposes, the Riksbank should be able to buy or sell foreign currency so that it can influence the exchange rate for the krona. The Riksbank also provides loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which in turn lends money to emerging countries and countries experiencing a financial crisis.
The Riksbank's financial assets consist of the gold reserve and the foreign currency reserve, including receivables from the IMF, assets relating to the Riksbank's monetary policy activities and other financial assets. The gold and foreign exchange reserves are normally the largest asset items and are subject to asset management.
The assets in the gold and foreign currency reserves are managed so that the Riksbank can always fulfil its commitments. This sets clear guidelines for asset management, but, within these guidelines, the assets are managed in precisely the same way as any other asset manager would do: that is, with the aim of providing the highest possible return in relation to the risk taken.
Each year, the Riksbank decides on the guidelines for asset management – an investment policy. Among other guidelines, this specifies the restrictions placed on the allocation of currencies and assets in the foreign exchange reserve, with the aim being that the Riksbank should always be able to fulfil its commitments. The investment policy also specifies an interval for the foreign exchange reserve’s average interest rate risk.