Foreign reserves in the context of "Deposit account"

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⭐ Core Definition: Foreign reserves

Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets such as gold and silver held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence the foreign exchange rate of its currency, and to maintain confidence in financial markets. Reserves are held in one or more reserve currencies, nowadays mostly the United States dollar and to a lesser extent the euro.

Foreign exchange reserves assets can comprise banknotes, bank deposits, and government securities of the reserve currency, such as bonds and treasury bills. Some countries hold a part of their reserves in gold, and special drawing rights are also considered reserve assets. Often, for convenience, the cash or securities are retained by the central bank of the reserve or other currency and the "holdings" of the foreign country are tagged or otherwise identified as belonging to the other country without them actually leaving the vault of that central bank. From time to time they may be physically moved to the home or another country.

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Foreign reserves in the context of Free-floating currency

In macroeconomics and economic policy, a floating exchange rate (also known as a fluctuating or flexible exchange rate) is a type of exchange rate regime in which a currency's value is allowed to fluctuate in response to international events affecting exchange rates. A currency that uses a floating exchange rate is known as a floating currency. In contrast, a fixed currency is one where its value is specified in terms of material goods, another currency, or a group of other currencies. The idea of a fixed currency is to reduce currency fluctuations.

In the modern world, most of the world's currencies are floating, and include the majority of the most widely traded currencies: the United States dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen, the pound sterling, or the Australian dollar. However, even with floating currencies, central banks sometimes participate in markets to attempt to influence the value of floating exchange rates. The Canadian dollar has not seen interference by the Canadian national bank with its price since September 1998. The US dollar also sees very little change of its foreign reserves.

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Foreign reserves in the context of Neomercantilism

Neomercantilism (also spelled neo-mercantilism) is a policy regime that encourages exports, discourages imports, controls capital movement, and centralizes currency decisions in the hands of a central government. The objective of neomercantilist policies is to increase the level of foreign reserves held by the government, allowing more effective monetary policy and fiscal policy.

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