The Bank manages the country’s foreign exchange reserves according to well-established guidelines relating to:
- The preservation of the capital value of reserve assets;
- The maintenance of adequate liquid foreign assets to make debt service and other payments on behalf of the central government and for the Central Bank’s own account;
- Achieving an optimum rate of return on investments within well-defined risk parameters.
The Board of the Bank approves the broad operating framework and Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA). The daily management of the foreign exchange reserves is guided by the Reserve Operations Committee. The reserve management function includes the conduct of trading activity, the assessment of the performance of the reserves portfolio and risk management. A portion of the portfolio is managed internally and the remainder managed through a number of external managers.
The Heritage and Stabilisation Fund Act No. 6 of 2007 states that the Board shall delegate the responsibilities for management of the Fund to the Bank. The Bank is responsible for the investment of assets and other resources of the Fund in accordance with the operational and investment guidelines developed by the Board.
