Publication date:
Jul 15, 2026
IMF Data Brief: Monetary and Financial Statistics
Foreign Currency Liquid Deposits Continue to Rise
Monetary and Financial Statistics, Other Depository Corporations, Quarterly Data
Contributors: Abdulrahman Gweder, Marthe Hinojales, Darja Milic, and Ninjin Namkhaijantsan
In 2025, transferable foreign-currency deposits stood at about 10 percent of broad money in EMDEs and 14 percent in LICs, up from about 7 and 12 percent, respectively, in 2015. Household holdings roughly doubled over the decade, accounting for most of the increase in both groups, while holdings by non-financial corporations (NFCs) remained broadly stable.
The pandemic marked a turning point in EMDEs but not in LICs. In EMDEs, the share climbed steadily to a peak of about 11 percent in 2021 amid currency pressures and high inflation, but has since partly reversed. This retreat is consistent with the sharp monetary tightening across EMDEs and the disinflation that followed. In LICs, the ratio stayed elevated throughout before easing toward end-2025, with household holdings also moderating.
Overall, household and corporate holdings of foreign-currency liquid deposits have diverged sharply over the decade. At end-2025, household holdings stood at about 5 percent of broad money in EMDEs and 6 percent in LICs, up from about 2.5 and 3 percent in 2015. Holdings by NFCs, in contrast, remained broadly stable over the decade, consistent with firms holding foreign currency primarily for operational purposes such as import financing and external payments. The divergence points to household portfolio behavior as the driving force behind the growth.
1. The data presented here are based on Monetary and Financial Statistics reported to the IMF and cover the period 2015Q1–2025Q4, using a subset of countries to ensure balance between time coverage and data availability across countries and across sectors. For countries reporting data only through 2025Q2, the latest available observation was carried forward to end-2025. Aggregates are constructed using PPP-adjusted weights and use the same set of reporting economies. Aggregates should be interpreted with some caution, as it may be influenced by a small number of countries with relatively large weights.
2. EMDEs comprise Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Cabo Verde, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Egypt, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, Samoa, Serbia, Seychelles, South Africa, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vanuatu, and West Bank and Gaza. LICs comprise Burundi, Cambodia, Comoros, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Moldova, Mozambique, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Uganda, and Uzbekistan.
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