UK Official holdings of international reserves:

Part I: UK Government Foreign Currency Assets and Liabilities – September 2005

1. UK Government net reserves rose by $197 million in September 2005, bringing the end-September total to $18,715 million (£10,581 million¹) compared with $18,518 million (£10,293 million²) at end-August 2005.

	US $ million: market values
	End August 2005		End September 2005
Gross Reserves³	45,302		46,780
Liabilities	-26,783		-28,065
of which
foreign currency forwards and swaps (net⁴	-15,898		-15,997
repo transactions⁵	-5,323		-7,102
Net reserves⁶	18,518		18,715
Change in net reserves		197
of which
valuation effects		186
transactions against sterling		11
of which
UK public sector customers		-712
Other		722

2. As set out in the Chancellor’s letter of 6 May 1997 to the Governor of the Bank of England, if the Government so instructs, the Bank, acting as its agent, may intervene in the foreign exchange market by buying or selling Government foreign exchange reserves. If intervention is undertaken, the monthly press release will provide details of the amount and date of the intervention and an explanation of why it was undertaken. No intervention operations were undertaken in September.

Part II: Bank of England Foreign Currency Assets and Liabilities – September 2005

1. Bank of England net holdings of foreign currency and gold fell by $64 million in September 2005, bringing the end-September total to $54 million (£31 million¹) compared with $118 million (£66 million²) at end-August 2005.

	US $ million: market values
	End August 2005		End September 2005
Assets³	30,277		31,486
Liabilities	-30,159		-31,431
of which
foreign currency forwards and swap (net)⁴	-5,252		-5,583
repo transactions⁵	0		0
Net assets⁶	118		54
Change in net holdings		-64
of which
valuation effects		-4
transactions against sterling		-60
of which
UK public sector customers		-
Other		-60

2. As set out in the Chancellor’s letter of 6 May 1997 to the Governor of the Bank of England, the Bank may also undertake foreign exchange operations to intervene in support of its monetary policy objective. If intervention is undertaken, the monthly press release will provide details of the amount and date of intervention and an explanation of why it was undertaken. The Bank undertook no such intervention operations in September.

3. Bank of England foreign currency assets and liabilities arise from banking deposits placed with the Bank by overseas central banks and other customers, the net effect of foreign exchange swaps conducted in the course of Bank money market operations, UK participation in the TARGET system, Bank euro Bill and Note programmes, and other capital items. Foreign exchange swaps may be undertaken as a supplement to usual Bank money market techniques to provide sterling liquidity to the market, and are purely technical in nature.

1 When converted at the closing market rate (4pm) of £1 = $.1.7688 on 30 September.

2 When converted at the closing market rate (4pm) of £1 = $.1.7990 on 31 August.

3 In this presentation gross reserves in part 1 and assets in part 2 exclude market valuation of foreign currency forwards and swaps. These derivatives are shown (excl sterling leg) within liabilities.

4 Net present value of foreign currency forwards, interest rate and cross currency swaps (excl sterling leg).

5 Market value of liabilities to repay foreign currency received in repo transactions.

6 Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Notes for Editors

Background

1. UK international reserves figures are published in accordance with the methodology developed by the International Monetary Fund in the context of revisions to its Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), and the G10 central banks in their report “Enhancing transparency regarding authorities’ foreign currency liquidity position”.

2. The UK began to disclose additional information on its foreign currency assets and liabilities required under the International Monetary Fund Special Data Dissemination Standard (assets, liabilities and derivatives) from July 1999. Past data can be revised; the most up to date historical data for end-July 1999 onwards can be found on the Bank of England website here.

Methodology and definitions

3. The Bank of England website also provides information on the methodology now used and definitions of the main conventions employed.

A National Statistics publication

4. National Statistics is the official source for authoritative, accurate and relevant information on the economy and society. It brings together a vast range of statistical information overseen by the National Statistician. The National Statistics logo is your assurance of statistics produced to the highest professional standards. For more information about National Statistics visit www.statistics.gov.uk. The release of data in this press notice has followed the National Statistics Code of Practice and Protocol of Release Practices.

Internet version

5. If you have access to the Internet, you can find this news release and
other Treasury information at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk.

Next publication date

6. The figures for October 2005 are due for publication on Thursday 3 November 2005.

Enquiries

7. Media enquiries about this press release should be addressed to Will Straw in the Treasury Press Office on 020 7270 4420.

8. Public enquiries (non-media) about this press release should be addressed to the Treasury’s Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on:

Telephone: 020 7270 4558
Fax: 020 7270 4861
Email: ceu.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk

National Statistics Public Enquiry Service

9. For general enquiries about National Statistics, contact the National Statistics Public Enquiry Service on:

Telephone: 020 7533 5888
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Email:  info@statistics.gov.uk
Fax:  01633 652747
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10. You can also find National Statistics on the Internet at www.statistics.gov.uk.