Вариант 14.

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Text. International Reserves and Monetary Supervision

The financial reserves of each nation are a measure of strength used by international leaders and investors in judging risks. «Hard» currencies are usually in strong demand and backed by substantial reserves and general economic strength, while «soft» currencies lack these attributes. Capital resources are more and more accepted as the fundamental indicator of economic and financial power of financial and commercial organizations. Capital stringencies loom as a persistent problem in the years ahead.

Major international lenders and investors as well as official institutions use various types of risk measures to evaluate the economic and financial strength of the countries of the world. Transfer risk concerns the prospect for being able to repatriate collected funds from the borrowing country. Credit risk pertains to the ability of the borrower to fulfill the repayment terms of the original loan agreement.

Financial reserves usually include U.S. dollars, other key currencies, special drawing rights (SDRs) issued by the IMF, and gold. In recent years the official IMF policy has been to de-emphasize gold as too inflexible a reserve for dynamic global monetary and economic purposes, but the use of gold persists. SDRs are based on a basket of currencies and are made available to IMF members by allocation from time to time to provide additional liquidity for the international monetary system. SDRs, however, are restricted to government-to-government use.

The IMF offers financial assistance to member nations who confront balance of payments difficulties. Its economic and currency surveillance and conditions vary directly with the progress and prospects for improved economic and financial stability of the country applying for support.

The central, or government policy-level, banks -e.g., the Federal Reserve in the United Status, the Deutsche Bundesbank in Germany, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England—are primarily responsible for the overall direction and function of domestic monetary policy and operations, and supervise related international activities as well. The central banks of the leading Western nations generally work closely to improve the global monetary system, and to conduct varying degrees of coordinated currency-support actions in times of severe market fluctuations. The IMF serves in many respects as a lender of last resort to central banks. The former socialist-communist nations are becoming more involved in world trade and finance in order to achieve their economic growth and welfare goals.

Fundamental changes are taking place in the global financial system. This is because of excess institutional capacity, heavy private and governmental debt problems, inadequate capital at a time when regulatory capital requirements are increasing, technology, speculation, deregulation, privatization, statutory revisions altering competition, entry of former communist nations into world markets and international economic and financial organizations, and a host of other developments.