The Central Bank of Iceland Changes the Reserve Requirement of Credit Institutions
The Central Bank of Iceland has in recent years taken steps to create operating conditions for Icelandic credit institutions similar to those in most European countries. The Bank has now decided to take a further step in this direction by implementing the following changes pertaining to the reserve requirements of credit institutions:
1. As of March 21, 2003, the current reserve requirement ratios
of
1.5 percent and 4 percent will be lowered to 1
percent and 3
percent.
2. As
of April 1, 2003, the use of reserves as collateral in
payments
systems will be limited to half the
negotiated collateral amount.
The purpose of
this limitation is to ensure that credit
institutions
have sufficient margin on the
reserve requirement account to
meet fluctuations in
their liquidity positions.
3. Before the end of the year, further
changes will be introduced,
such as an adjustment of
the reserve base and the reserve ratios
to the
practices of the European Central Bank. At the
same
time, the use of required reserves as
collateral in payment
systems will be
terminated
These changes could lead to a 50 percent reduction in the required reserves held by Icelandic credit institutions on accounts with the Central Bank.
Nr. 5/2003
March 7, 2003