Global foreign exchange reserves topped $4 trillion for the first time in the third quarter of 2005, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday in its first quarterly update of international currency reserves data.
The IMF, which to date only published aggregate foreign exchange reserves figures in its annual report, said the more frequent update would enhance transparency and "the smooth functioning of national and international financial systems."
The data showed total foreign exchange holdings rose by $95 billion, or 2.4 percent, from the previous quarter to stand at $4.041 trillion in the three months through September.
Total reserves were up by $599 billion, or 17 percent, from the third quarter of 2004 and have more than doubled from the $1.881 trillion recorded in the third quarter of 2000.
The IMF data also go some way toward assessing the currency makeup of these reserves - identifying the denominations of some $2.696 trillion of the total.
Of the reserves which can be identified, some $1.791 trillion, or 66.4 percent, were registered as claims in US dollars in the third quarter. The percentage in dollars was a touch higher than the 66.2 percent share in the second quarter, but down from 67.6 percent in the third quarter of 2004.
The equivalent share recorded as claims in euros was 24.3 percent in the third quarter, up from 23.3 percent in the prior three months and 23.7 percent in the third quarter of 2004.
The two other significant currencies in reserve holdings were the Japanese yen and British pound. Their shares of the total were 3.7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, compared to 3.6 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, a year earlier.
The IMF said the data on the currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves (COFER) are submitted on a voluntary and confidential basis by 114 member countries of the Fund, comprising all 24 industrialised countries and 90 of the 160 developing countries in its membership.
Of the data available to the fund, some $2.762 trillion of foreign currency reserves were held by developing countries. Of these latter reserves that could be identified by denomination, some 60 percent were held in US dollars, it said.