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MONTHLY STATISTICAL RELEASE

Official Reserve Assets – August 2008

Release date: 5 September 2008

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, transactions with official institutions overseas and valuation effects arising from changes in the foreign currency value of the assets and exchange rates.

During August 2008, the value of official reserve assets decreased by A$1,835 million, mainly due to transactions.

Table 1: Official Reserve Assets
(A$ million)
End of		Foreign exchange	SDRs	Reserve position in the IMF	Gold	Total

2007	Aug	67 610	233	414	2 099	70 356
	Sep	49 896	220	392	2 160	52 667
	Oct	33 195	213	379	2 198	35 984
	Nov	29 847	219	385	2 268	32 718
	Dec	27 492	218	384	2 427	30 521

2008	Jan	32 562	218	384	2 667	35 831
	Feb	32 079	202	363	2 634	35 278
	Mar	33 147	214	371	2 610	36 342
	Apr	32 868	208	360	2 394	35 830
	May	32 346	199	424	2 378	35 348
	Jun	32 772	198	405	2 481	35 857
	Jul	34 241	201	411	2 498	37 351
	Aug	32 411	209	420	2 475	35 516

Table 2: Official Reserve Assets
(US$ million)
End of		Foreign exchange	SDRs	Reserve position in the IMF	Gold	Total

2007	Aug	55 535	191	340	1 724	57 790
	Sep	44 043	194	346	1 906	46 489
	Oct	30 593	196	349	2 026	33 163
	Nov	26 460	194	341	2 010	29 005
	Dec	24 237	192	339	2 139	26 908

2008	Jan	28 928	194	341	2 369	31 832
	Feb	30 366	191	344	2 493	33 394
	Mar	30 429	196	340	2 396	33 362
	Apr	30 689	194	336	2 235	33 455
	May	30 920	190	406	2 273	33 789
	Jun	31 547	191	390	2 388	34 516
	Jul	32 303	190	388	2 356	35 237
	Aug	28 000	181	363	2 138	30 682

Notes

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. Any discrepancy in the table between the sum of components and the total is due to rounding. 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 Statement of Liabilities and Assets and the Bank’s Annual Report. From 1 July 1996, foreign currency securities sold under repurchase agreements are retained for accounting purposes as foreign currency investments in the Bank’s balance sheet, in accordance with standard accounting treatment. For the purpose of reporting foreign exchange reserves in this table, however, securities sold under repurchase agreements are excluded.
Additional data on Australia’s International Reserves will be available on the Reserve Bank’s website (www.rba.gov.au) at the end of the month.

Enquiries:
Manager, Media Office
Information Department
Reserve Bank of Australia
SYDNEY

Phone: +61 2 9551 9720
Fax: +61 2 9221 5528
E-mail: rbainfo@rba.gov.au