The Balance Sheet 193
accounts not held as reserve assets, and all unallocated
gold account liabilities, are classifi ed as deposits.
7.128 Gold bullion takes the form of coins, ingots,
or bars with a purity of at least 995 parts per 1,000,
including such gold held in allocated gold accounts.
Gold bullion is usually traded on organized markets
or through bilateral arrangements between central
banks. Gold bullion held as a reserve asset is the only
fi nancial asset with no corresponding liability.
7.129 Any gold held by a government unit that
does not satisfy the defi nition of monetary gold is not
a fi nancial asset and is included in nonmonetary gold
as a nonfi nancial asset, most likely valuables (613) but
possibly inventories (612).^35 In some cases, a central
bank may own gold bullion that is not held as reserves,
such as sometimes occurs when it acts as a monopoly
reseller of mined gold. A gold swap is treated as a loan
(see paragraph 7.161).
7.130 Monetary gold is valued at the price estab-
lished in organized markets or when traded through
bilateral arrangements between central banks.
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) (62012,
62212, 6301, 6321)
7.131 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are inter-
national reserve assets created by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and allocated to its members to
supplement reserve assets. Th e Special Drawing Rights
Department of the IMF allocates SDRs among mem-
ber countries of the IMF (collectively known as the
participants). Th e allocation of SDRs is a liability of the
member country and interest accrues on this liability.^36
7.132 SDR holdings represent each holder’s un-
conditional right to obtain foreign exchange or other
reserve assets from other IMF members. Th ese fi nan-
cial assets represent claims on the participants in the
IMF’s SDR Department collectively and not on the
IMF. A participant may sell some or all of its SDR
holdings to another participant and receive other re-
serve assets, particularly foreign exchange, in return.
Participants may also use SDRs to meet liabilities.
(^35) Nonmonetary gold is a good and classifi ed under nonfi nancial
assets as valuables, if held primarily as a store of value, and classi-
fi ed as inventories of materials and supplies, if used in a produc-
tion process (such as jewelry or dentistry).
(^36) Th e IMF has also designated a limited number of international
fi nancial institutions as holders of SDRs.
7.133 SDR allocations constitute a (debt) liability
of the recipients (and part of the public sector’s debt
liabilities) and the SDR holdings are part of the public
sector’s fi nancial assets. Th e allocation and holdings
are recorded on a gross basis. Th e macroeconomic
statistical guidelines do not specify on whose balance
sheet SDR holdings and allocations should be re-
corded (e.g., the central bank or a general government
entity such as the ministry of fi nance or treasury). Th is
is because SDR allocations are made to IMF members
that are participants in the SDR Department of the
IMF, and it is for those members to follow domestic
legal and institutional arrangements to determine
the ownership and recording of SDR allocations and
SDR holdings in the public sector. Given that fi nancial
claims on and liabilities to members in the SDR sys-
tem are attributed on a cooperative basis, a residual
partner category—other nonresidents—is used as the
counterparty to SDR holdings and allocations.
7.134 In addition to SDRs as a type of fi nancial in-
strument, SDRs may also be used as a unit of account
in which other debt instruments can be expressed.
Th e value of the SDR is determined daily by the IMF
on the basis of a selected basket of currencies. To en-
sure consistency, the SDR rates against domestic cur-
rencies are obtainable from the IMF. Both the basket
and the weights of the currencies that make up the
SDR basket are revised from time to time.
Currency and deposits (6202, 6212, 6222, 6302, 6312, 6322).
7.135 Currency consists of notes and coins that
are of fi xed nominal values and are issued or autho-
rized by the central bank or government. All sectors
may hold currency as assets, but normally only central
banks and government may issue currency. In some
countries, commercial banks are able to issue currency
under the authorization of the central bank or govern-
ment. Currency constitutes a liability of the issuing
units. Unissued currency held by a public sector unit
is not treated as a fi nancial asset of the public sector or
a liability of the central bank. Gold and commemora-
tive coins that are not in circulation as legal tender,
or as monetary gold, are classifi ed as nonfi nancial as-
sets in the form of valuables or inventories of materials
and supplies, as appropriate, rather than currency.
7.136 A distinction should be drawn between do-
mestic currency that is a liability of a resident unit