By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The global lender, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday released data on currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves.

The Fund in a statement said in response to queries on  today’s release of COFER Survey, the line below is attributable to IMF spokesman Gerry Rice:

The IMF has released today the quarterly data on the currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves (COFER) for Q2 2015. We commend the many jurisdictions that have voluntarily  agreed to have their names listed as COFER participants. As set out in the publication, I can confirm  China’s participation in the COFER survey in keeping with international  best practices.

According to the IMF, for the first time, the data will be released with a list of economies that have agreed to have their names released as COFER participants. “The release of these names is consistent with IMF’s efforts to promote data transparency, including through the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus, which requires adherents to make public their participation in the COFER,” the global lender affirmed.

COFER is a database managed by the IMF’s Statistics Department, containing end-of-period quarterly data of reporting countries/jurisdictions. Data are disseminated on an aggregate basis; individual country data are not released. Seven currencies are distinguished in COFER data: the U.S. dollar, euro, pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, AUD, and CAD. All other currencies are included indistinguishably in the category of “other currencies.”

Below is COFER—Questions and Answers from the IMF

Is the list of economies participating in the COFER reporting exhaustive?

·         No, the list is not exhaustive. The list includes only the names of participating countries/economies that have agreed to have their names disclosed as COFER reporters. The list can be accessed on the IMF’s website.

Is it possible to get information on the names of COFER reporters that are not included in the list?

·         Participation in COFER is voluntary and country-specific data are strictly confidential. The names of COFER reporters are also confidential, unless consent has been given by the authorities to the Fund to disclose their participation.

Does COFER data only include the composition of official foreign exchange reserves of those economies whose names are published?

·         No, aggregate COFER data published on the IMF website include data for 146 countries, while the list as of September 30, 2015 include over 90 participating economies that have agreed to have their names disclosed to the public.

What is the motivation behind disclosing the list of names of COFER reporters?

·         Publishing a list of COFER participants is intended to increase transparency, allowing analysts, policy makers, and the public to better understand the currency composition of holdings of foreign exchange reserves across the world. COFER data provide insight into the evolution of the currency composition of these reserves and facilitate analysis of developments in international financial markets.

·         The release of these names is also consistent with IMF member countries’ efforts to promote data transparency, including through the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) Plus, which requires adherents to make public their participation in the COFER.

Why is the IMF eliminating the COFER data breakdown for advanced economies and emerging and developing economies?

·         COFER is a confidential database and the IMF strives to ensure the confidentiality of individual data submitted by participating economies. To remain confidential and to avoid possible residual disclosure of individual country data, with the release of a list of COFER participants, the IMF has decided to cease publication of the breakdown.

The breakdown of advanced economies and emerging and developing economies is particularly useful for economic analysis. Would it be possible to continue getting this information by sending an official request to the IMF?

·         No. As of end-September 2015, this breakdown is no longer available.

Will the historical data that has a breakdown of advanced economies and emerging and developing economies continue to be made available on the IMF website?

·         Historical data are available at http://data.imf.org/cofer.