OMFIF: Redefining resilience in reserve management
A new report from OMFIF’s Global Public Investor Working Group examines how central banks are redefining resilience in an era marked by geopolitical strain, inflation volatility and rapid technological change.
After years of navigating successive global shocks, reserve managers now face a more complex policy landscape. Pressures on currency choices, heightened scrutiny of safety and the growing influence of new technologies are reshaping long-standing approaches to reserve management.
To better understand these shifts, OMFIF convened its Global Public Investor Working Group, bringing together 10 central banks from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Their insights, supported by data from the Global Public Investor 2025 survey, reveal a system adapting pragmatically while remaining anchored in the core priorities of safety and liquidity.
The resulting report, Redefining resilience in reserve management, shows central banks rebuilding confidence and capability as they prepare for a more unstable global environment.
Key findings
Geopolitics and currency choices – The dollar remains the anchor of global reserves, but confidence in the US policy environment has weakened. Several participants hold 70–80% of their reserves in dollars, yet nearly 60% of GPI survey respondents expect to diversify in the next one to two years.
Gold’s growing role – Both developed and emerging market central banks plan to increase their gold holdings. The rise is driven more by politics than price, with one reserve manager noting that holding gold signals institutional independence.
Liquidity above all – Despite political tensions, central banks agree there is still no substitute for the liquidity of the US Treasury market. According to GPI 2025, 92% of respondents continue to view the market as sufficiently liquid.
Technology in transition – Adoption of artificial intelligence remains limited and uneven. Most institutions are only beginning to use AI for tasks such as summarising data or scanning markets, while those furthest ahead are also most cautious about the associated risks.
Resilience as a benchmark – Every central bank returned to the same core question: what does resilience look like in practice? Across the board, safety and liquidity remain the foundation of reserve management strategies.