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The Cost of Holding Foreign Exchange Reserves

In: Asset Management at Central Banks and Monetary Authorities

Author

Listed:
  • Eduardo Levy-Yeyati

    (School of Government, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella)

  • Juan Francisco Gómez

    (Universidad de Buenos Aires)

Abstract
Recent studies that have emphasized that the costs of accumulating reserves for self-insurance purposes have overlooked two potentially important side effects. First, the impact of the resulting lower spreads on the service costs of the stock of sovereign debt, which could substantially reduce the marginal cost of holding reserves. Second, when reserve accumulation reflects “leaning-against-the-wind” sterilized interventions, the actual cost of reserves should be measured as the sum of valuation effects due to exchange rate changes and the local-to-foreign currency exchange rate differential (the inverse of a carry trade profit and loss total return flow), which yields a cost that is typically smaller than the one arising from traditional estimates based on the sovereign credit risk spreads. We document those effects empirically to illustrate that the cost of holding reserves may have been considerably smaller than usually assumed in both the academic literature and the policy debate.

Suggested Citation

  • Eduardo Levy-Yeyati & Juan Francisco Gómez, 2020. "The Cost of Holding Foreign Exchange Reserves," Springer Books, in: Jacob Bjorheim (ed.), Asset Management at Central Banks and Monetary Authorities, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 91-110, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-43457-1_6
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-43457-1_6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gustavo Adler & Mr. Camilo E Tovar Mora, 2011. "Foreign Exchange Intervention: A Shield Against Appreciation Winds?," IMF Working Papers 2011/165, International Monetary Fund.
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    22. Guillermo A. Calvo & Leonardo Leiderman & Carmen M. Reinhart, 1993. "Capital Inflows and Real Exchange Rate Appreciation in Latin America: The Role of External Factors," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 40(1), pages 108-151, March.
    23. Levy-Yeyati, Eduardo & Sturzenegger, Federico, 2005. "Classifying exchange rate regimes: Deeds vs. words," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 1603-1635, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Piotr Misztal, 2021. "The Size and the Main Determinants of China’s Official Currency Reserves in the Period 1990-2019," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 568-582.
    2. Eduardo Levy-Yeyati & Juan Francisco Gómez, 2022. "Leaning-Against-the-Wind Intervention and the “Carry-Trade” View of the Cost of Reserves," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 33(5), pages 853-877, November.
    3. Yeonjeong Lee & Seong-Min Yoon, 2020. "Relationship between International Reserves and FX Rate Movements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-24, August.
    4. Federico Sturzenegger, 2020. "How should Central Banks accumulate reserves?," Working Papers 139, Universidad de San Andres, Departamento de Economia, revised May 2020.
    5. Eduardo Levy Yeyati & Andrew Powell, 2023. "Sovereign Debt Management," IDB Publications (Book Chapters), in: Andrew Powell & Oscar Mauricio Valencia (ed.), Dealing with Debt, edition 1, chapter 6, pages 123-160, Inter-American Development Bank.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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