FACTBOX-FX reserves and global imbalances

NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Central banks' foreign exchange
reserves rose to more than $6 trillion in the third quarter,
but the dollar's share of total holdings slipped while the
percentage of reserves held in euros edged higher.

The sheer size of reserve accumulation is one manifestation
of the global imbalances in international accounts that worry
policy-makers.

On one side sit the savers of the world -- mostly
developing countries -- with their massive stockpiles of
reserves and growing trade surpluses. On the other are
consumer-driven economies with widening trade gaps.

The United States ran a current account deficit of about 6
percent of gross domestic product in 2006, though a weakening
dollar has helped shrink it over the last 12 months.

But the struggling dollar also appears to have made central
banks amenable to holding a larger share of reserves in other
currencies, notably the euro.

Following are data on official dollar holdings worldwide,
ranking reserve totals by country and size and foreign holdings
of U.S. Treasuries.
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TOP 5 CENTRAL BANK RESERVE HOLDINGS (in billions of dlrs):

October End-06 End-05 End-04 End-03 End-00
China $1,455 $1,066 $819 $610 $403 $166
Japan $930 $895 $846 $844 $674 $362
Russia $441 $304 $182 $124 $ 77 $ 28
Taiwan $266 $266 $253 $242 $207 $107
India $262 $177 $137 $131 $101 $ 40
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WORLDWIDE RESERVE TOTALS
-- Global foreign exchange reserves rose $317 billion, or 5.3

percent, to $6 trillion in the third quarter of 2007,

International Monetary Fund data showed. The rate of

increase was below the 6.5 percent jump in in the second

quarter.
-- Total reserves rose $1.3 trillion, or 21.3 percent,

from the third quarter of 2006.
-- Developing countries in the third quarter of 2007 accounted

for $4.6 trillion in reserves, almost 76 percent of the

total. Their share of world forex reserve holdings has risen

from 60 percent at the end of 2000.
BREAKDOWN OF ALLOCATED RESERVES (in billions):

2007 Q3 2007 Q2 2007 Q1 2006 Q4
-- with FX detail* 3834 3664 3465 3310

US dollars 2445 2381 2252 2167

euros 1014 933 881 831

Japanese yen 105 102 102 102

British pound 182 170 155 145

Swiss franc 6 6 6 6

Others 83 73 68 60

*Note: Reserves for which currency composition is known.
US Dollars, euros as a percent of reserves with FX detail:

2007 Q3 2007 Q2 2007 Q1 2006 Q4

US dollars 63.8 64.1 64.6 65.7

euros 26.4 25.6 25.4 25.1

sterling 4.8 4.7 4.5 4.4

yen 2.7 2.8 3.0 3.1
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NATIONAL ACCOUNTS OF MAJOR ECONOMIES:
TOP 5 CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT COUNTRIES AS PERCENTAGE OF GDP:

End-2006 (in blns) % of GDP in 2006
New Zealand 9.1 8.7
Turkey 31.9 7.9
Hungary 7.5 6.5
South Africa 9.8 6.5
USA 811.5 6.2
Australia 41.5 5.5
TOP 5 CURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUS COUNTRIES AS PERCENTAGE OF GDP:

End-2006 (in blns) % of GDP in 2006
Qatar 16.4 31.0
Singapore 36.3 27.5
Saudi Arabia 95.5 27.4
UAE 35.9 22.0
Malaysia* 25.6 17.2
*Indicates IMF estimates.
-- The U.S. net international investment position, the

country's total stock of IOUs to foreign investors and

governments, in 2006 was a deficit of $2.54 trillion, 13

percent wider than the $2.24 trillion shortfall in 2005.
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TOP 10 FOREIGN HOLDERS OF U.S. TREASURIES (PRIVATE AND PUBLIC)
(in billions):

Oct Sept Dec Oct

2006 2006
1. Japan $592 $582 $623 $618
2. Mainland China $388 $397 $398 $392
3. UK $297 $266 $ 94 $ 62
4. Oil Exporters $130 $125 $110 $107
5. Brazil $113 $109 $ 52 $ 46
6. Carib Bank Ctrs $ 78 $ 72 $ 80 $ 73
7. Luxembourg $ 70 $ 65 $ 60 $ 60
8. Hong Kong $ 54 $ 56 $ 54 $ 51
9. Taiwan $ 53 $ 53 $ 59 $ 61
10.Germany $ 44 $ 44 $ 46 $ 46

SIZE OF U.S. TREASURY MARKET AND FOREIGN HOLDINGS:
-- Total outstanding marketable Treasury securities in November

2007 were $4.524 trillion, up from $4.361 trillion in

November 2006.
-- Foreign holdings of Treasury securities, private and

public, were $2.225 trillion in the third quarter, up 7.7

percent from a year earlier.
-- Marketable debt securities held in custody by the Federal

Reserve for foreign official and international accounts

(mostly foreign central banks) were $2.062 trillion in

December 2007, compared with $1.769 trillion at the start of

2007. Treasury debt accounted for $1.231 trillion of the

total. Federal agency debt made up the bulk of the rest.
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(Sources: International Monetary Fund, Securities Industry and
Financial Markets Association, U.S. Treasury Department,
national central banks, Reuters news)

(Compiled by Steven C. Johnson and Kevin Plumberg; Editing
by Andrea Ricci)