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MONTHLY STATISTICAL RELEASE

Official Reserve Assets – May 2009

Release date: 5 June 2009

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 May 2009, the value of official reserve assets increased by A$869 million, mainly due to transactions.

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

2008	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
	Sep	33 069	224	449	2 839	36 037
	Oct	41 446	259	520	2 808	44 889
	Nov	42 432	257	980	3 182	46 702
	Dec	41 927	253	942	3 223	47 528

2009	Jan	43 448	264	985	3 667	47 784
	Feb	43 791	257	962	3 787	48 254
	Mar	42 098	244	914	3 423	47 329
	Apr	46 546	232	870	3 121	51 359
	May	47 128	218	1 109	3 165	52 228

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

2008	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
	Sep	26 442	179	359	2 270	28 815
	Oct	27 686	173	347	1 876	29 986
	Nov	27 886	169	644	2 091	30 692
	Dec	29 047	175	653	2 233	32 927

2009	Jan	27 972	170	634	2 361	30 763
	Feb	28 263	166	621	2 444	31 143
	Mar	28 934	168	628	2 353	32 529
	Apr	33 816	169	632	2 268	37 312
	May	37 287	173	878	2 504	41 323

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.
The sum of components may not reconcile with the total amount for Official Reserve Assets due to rounding and the net value of swap transactions with the Federal Reserve as part of the USD Swap Facility.
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:
Media Office
Information Department
Reserve Bank of Australia
SYDNEY

Phone: +61 2 9551 9720
Fax: +61 2 9551 8033
E-mail: rbainfo@rba.gov.au