Frequently Asked Questions
- Is there a breakdown of "other currencies" classification in the Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) dataset?
- Do you have Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) data for individual countries?
- Which exchange rate is used to convert Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) data into U.S. dollars?
- Is gold part of foreign exchange reserves data in the Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) dataset?
- What is the earliest period available for the Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) database?
- What is the definition of Unallocated Reserves in the Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER)?
"Other currencies" refer to all currencies other than those that are separately identified in COFER data reporting. There is no breakdown of "other currencies" in COFER reporting, so individual currencies included in "other currencies" are indistinguishable.
Note: Since June 28, 2013, the IMF has expanded the currency range in COFER reporting with the Australian dollar and Canadian dollar separately identified. The COFER data with separate identification of Australian dollar and Canadian dollar are available starting with 2012Q4 data.
COFER data for individual countries are kept strictly confidential given the sensitive nature of the data. Access to individual country data is limited to only four IMF staff on a need-to-know basis. COFER data are only published in the format of statistical aggregates.
COFER data are reported in terms of U.S. dollars. The IMF receives COFER data already converted into U.S. dollars. Reporters are recommended to use end-of-period market exchange rates to convert their reserves denominated in non-U.S. dollar currencies into U.S. dollars.
Monetary gold is not covered in the foreign exchange reserves reported in COFER, but gold is part of reserves assets, which is a broader concept than that of COFER.
COFER data are available beginning 1995 on annual and monthly bases, while quarterly data begin from 1999Q1 onwards. Prior to 1995, annual data are published in the International Reserves appendix of historical IMF Annual Reports.
Unallocated Foreign Exchange Reserves: in the context of COFER, Unallocated FXR is a residual COFER category consisting of the difference between total FXR sourced from the International Financial Statistics (IFS) and the total allocated reserves in COFER. It has two components: (i) the total FXR of nonreporting countries; and (ii) the discrepancy (if any) between the IFS total FXR of COFER-reporting countries and the total allocated FXR in COFER.
