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Survey of Reserve Managers
Report

Survey of Reserve Managers

Lessons from the Crisis

Aideen Morahan and Christian Mulder
IMF, 2013
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening
  • Background

Recommendation

This matter-of-fact, highly revealing report explains the results of a 2012 International Monetary Fund (IMF) survey of reserve banks. The content is quite substantive, including original research, a new way of viewing the fiscal crisis and interesting data. Though the authors provide limited interpretation and little theoretical analysis, their survey reached the people at the center of world-changing events. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the IMF questioned reserve managers from countries rich and poor. Their responses give useful glimpses into how reserve banks handled crucial issues at a time of great stress. Since the report divides the responses into those from advanced, middle-income and low-income countries, it gives a clear sense of how nations’ actions varied according to their position in the world economy. getAbstract recommends this report on national reserve banking practices around the world to bankers, policy makers and those interested in global finance.

Summary

Since the Crisis: A Framework for Learning

The 2008 financial crisis affected the entire world. Bankers who manage national reserves in every country – from emerging economies to the developed world – had to reduce risk and adjust to changing circumstances. They all faced problems with credit and liquidity in their reserves. However, not every reserve banker responded in the same way, and few knew how their peers in other nations reacted.

To gather that information, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted a survey of reserve managers beginning in April 2012. The IMF contacted 156 “reserve-managing central banks of IMF member countries,” and reserve bankers from 67 countries responded. Their countries represent roughly half the world’s gross domestic product and about a third of global reserves. The respondents were evenly distributed: 23 came from “advanced countries” (ACs), 25 from “middle-income countries” (MICs), and 19 from “low-income countries” (LICs), defined by the World Bank as having a “per capita income of less than $3,975.” Of the respondents, 28 hailed from Europe, 14 from the Americas, 10 each from Asia and Africa, and five from Oceania.

About the Authors

Aideen Morahan works for Ireland’s central bank. Christian Mulder is a senior manager at the World Bank group.

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