Phil Hogan
Ceist:92 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Finance his views on the future use of Central Bank reserves. [25604/02]
Vol. 559 No. 1
92 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Finance his views on the future use of Central Bank reserves. [25604/02]
When discussing the Central Bank's reserves, it is important to specify the reserves in question. The official external reserves are principally composed of the foreign currency assets of the Central Bank. As of end October 2002, these stood at €5.32 billion. The management of these foreign currency assets is subject to any guidelines issued by the ECB under Article 31(3) of the statute of the European system of central banks and of the European Central Bank to ensure that these operations will not interfere with the monetary and exchange rate policies of the euro area.