Reserve Bank of Australia

Official Reserve Assets

April 2013

Release date: 7 May 2013

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 and valuation effects arising from changes in the foreign currency value of the assets and exchange rates.

Table 1: Official Reserve Assets (A$ million)

End of	Foreign exchange	SDRs	Reserve position in the IMF	Gold	Total
2012
Feb	38,581	4,299	2,015	4,201	49,096
Mar	39,257	4,443	2,136	4,103	49,938
Apr	36,929	4,359	2,293	4,056	47,638
May	42,127	4,570	2,404	4,112	53,214
Jun	36,550	4,360	2,293	4,027	47,230
Ju1	36,440	4,213	2,216	3,956	46,825
Aug	33,356	4,341	2,283	4,109	44,089
Sep	33,951	4,329	2,277	4,357	44,914
Oct	38,469	4,360	2,293	4,253	49,375
Nov	35,224	4,327	2,378	4,248	46,178
Dec	36,446	4,354	2,393	4,114	47,306
2013
Jan	35,573	4,339	2,431	4,112	46,454
Feb	33,037	4,314	2,417	3,969	43,737
Mar	38,247	4,201	2,353	3,936	48,737
Apr	39,561	4,261	2,387	3,638	49,847

Table 2: Official Reserve Assets (US$ million)

End of	Foreign exchange	SDRs	Reserve position in the IMF	Gold	Total
2012
Feb	41,729	4,650	2,179	4,544	53,103
Mar	40,835	4,621	2,221	4,268	51,946
Apr	38,602	4,557	2,397	4,239	49,796
May	40,977	4,446	2,339	4,000	51,762
Jun	37,248	4,443	2,337	4,104	48,133
Jul	38,357	4,435	2,333	4,164	49,288
Aug	34,360	4,472	2,352	4,232	45,416
Sep	35,526	4,530	2,383	4,560	46,998
Oct	39,924	4,524	2,380	4,413	51,241
Nov	36,743	4,514	2,481	4,431	48,169
Dec	37,845	4,521	2,485	4,272	49,123
2013
Jan	36,975	4,510	2,526	4,274	48,285
Feb	33,945	4,433	2,483	4,078	44,940
Mar	39,877	4,380	2,454	4,103	50,813
Apr	41,017	4,418	2,475	3,771	51,681

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Notes

1. 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 tak en into account. Conversion to Australian dollar equivalent normally is based on end month market rates of exchange. Figures in Table 2 have been converted to US dollar values using the end-month AUD/USD exchange rate.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Additional data on Australia's International Reserves will be available on the Reserve Bank's web site towards the end of the month.