Somalia - Total reserves (includes gold, current US$)

The latest value for Total reserves (includes gold, current US$) in Somalia was $23,109,680 as of 1989. Over the past 29 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between $129,691,100 in 1978 and $6,750,000 in 1968.

Definition: Total reserves comprise holdings of monetary gold, special drawing rights, reserves of IMF members held by the IMF, and holdings of foreign exchange under the control of monetary authorities. The gold component of these reserves is valued at year-end (December 31) London prices. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Source: International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics and data files.

See also:

Year Value
1960 $9,300,000
1961 $16,500,000
1962 $17,900,000
1963 $18,770,000
1964 $10,200,000
1965 $8,600,000
1966 $12,300,000
1967 $10,000,000
1968 $6,750,000
1969 $14,229,600
1970 $21,252,110
1971 $26,190,340
1972 $31,525,580
1973 $35,333,860
1974 $42,815,000
1975 $68,737,420
1976 $85,230,820
1977 $121,754,100
1978 $129,691,100
1979 $51,380,000
1980 $25,745,930
1981 $38,252,040
1982 $15,260,310
1983 $16,476,670
1984 $6,956,603
1985 $8,786,945
1986 $20,315,500
1987 $16,607,370
1988 $23,187,520
1989 $23,109,680

Development Relevance: The balance of payments records an economy’s transactions with the rest of the world. Balance of payments accounts are divided into two groups: the current account, which records transactions in goods, services, primary income, and secondary income, and the capital and financial account, which records capital transfers, acquisition or disposal of nonproduced, nonfinancial assets, and transactions in financial assets and liabilities. The current account balance is one of the most analytically useful indicators of an external imbalance. A primary purpose of the balance of payments accounts is to indicate the need to adjust an external imbalance. Where to draw the line for analytical purposes requires a judgment concerning the imbalance that best indicates the need for adjustment. There are a number of definitions in common use for this and related analytical purposes. The trade balance is the difference between exports and imports of goods. From an analytical view it is arbitrary to distinguish goods from services. For example, a unit of foreign exchange earned by a freight company strengthens the balance of payments to the same extent as the foreign exchange earned by a goods exporter. Even so, the trade balance is useful because it is often the most timely indicator of trends in the current account balance. Customs authorities are typically able to provide data on trade in goods long before data on trade in services are available.

Limitations and Exceptions: Discrepancies may arise in the balance of payments because there is no single source for balance of payments data and therefore no way to ensure that the data are fully consistent. Sources include customs data, monetary accounts of the banking system, external debt records, information provided by enterprises, surveys to estimate service transactions, and foreign exchange records. Differences in collection methods - such as in timing, definitions of residence and ownership, and the exchange rate used to value transactions - contribute to net errors and omissions. In addition, smuggling and other illegal or quasi-legal transactions may be unrecorded or misrecorded.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The balance of payments (BoP) is a double-entry accounting system that shows all flows of goods and services into and out of an economy; all transfers that are the counterpart of real resources or financial claims provided to or by the rest of the world without a quid pro quo, such as donations and grants; and all changes in residents' claims on and liabilities to nonresidents that arise from economic transactions. All transactions are recorded twice - once as a credit and once as a debit. In principle the net balance should be zero, but in practice the accounts often do not balance, requiring inclusion of a balancing item, net errors and omissions.

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Economic Policy & Debt Indicators

Sub-Topic: Balance of payments