The IMF is out with Q2 data on foreign exchange reserves (pdf). A few highlights:
1) Countries are building reserves:
Overall reserves hit $12 trillion for the first time, up from $11.86T in Q1 and $11.13T a year earlier.
2) King Dollar
In dollar terms, USD reserves grew the most, expanding $12B in Q2
3) Euro stumbles
The euro has been making ground against the US dollar over the past few years and euro reserves are now about 40% of USD. In Q2, however, reserves fell by $55B but that may be due to declines in the euro’s value (in USD terms) than a change in reserve diversification strategy.
4) AUD and CAD
USD reserves are more than 30x larger than AUD or CAD but the commodity currencies continue to gain ground. CAD reserves rose $8B in the quarter and are up 16% y/y. AUD reserves grew about $4B in the quarter and are up 17% y/y.
5) The Q3 story will be the dollar
The euro is down 7.8% so far in Q3 and it’s a similar story across the board. When the Q3 data is released in a few months, dollar reserves will be significantly larger on a relative value scale.
IMF FX reserves
