MODERN TENDENCIES OF SPATIAL-TEMPORARY CHANGES IN THE INTERNATIONAL RESERVES OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to study the spatiotemporal changes in the dynamics and size of the leading countries of the world and Ukraine’s official international (gold and currency) reserves, as well as to compare the structural indicators of the latter.
The relevance of research in terms of size, structure and international comparison of OIR (official international reserves) of Ukraine with the countries of the world is substantiated by the ability of international reserves to ensure the stability of the economy and its sustainable development, primarily due to the stabilization of the financial market through the country’s monetary policy.
A comparative analysis of the spatiotemporal changes of the OIR of the countries of the world actualizes the institutional approach in the study of the problems of the OIR development in general. The relevance of research towards the size, structure, and comparison of gold and foreign exchange reserves of Ukraine with the countries of the world is increasing.
Priority in the study of the OIR by public administration has, to a certain extent, caused a lack of attention to the problems of spatiotemporal differentiation of the countries of the world by the size and structure of international reserves. Also, a simple ranking does not reflect tectonic shifts in the global financial system at the level of countries and regions.
This article presents the results of a study researching the essence of the term official international (gold and currency) reserves (OIR), its composition and purpose of creation. The analysis of the dynamics and structure of the OIR of the countries of the world with the ranking of reserves according to three criteria: the total reserves, the gold reserves in tons, the share of gold in the total reserves. Analysis and ranking of countries by the share of gold in the number of international reserves is also carried out.
Results. The analysis of the value of the OIR of the countries of the world in the dynamics during the study period revealed the main tendencies, namely the changes of the countries in the world ranking and Ukraine’s place in it.
Based on the analysis, conclusions are made about the geographical concentration of gold and foreign exchange reserves: more than half of the total reserves of the world are formed by six countries. The conclusion is made about the growth of gold reserves, the growth rates are reflected in general and for individual countries, the rating of countries is built, the leaders of growth are identified.
The distribution of the top 20 countries in terms of OIR volumes is the result of the concentration of the lion’s share of them in a very limited number of leading countries. The first six countries (China, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Russia) are followed by mostly newly industrialized countries (NICs) – India, South Korea, Brazil, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia. A rather compact group of countries is created by the old highly developed countries – Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain. An occurrence of the Czech Republic, Poland and the hi-tech country Israel in the top twenty countries is symptomatic. Thus, in the world OIR, there are groups (clubs) of countries divided by specific socio-economic typological features.
The structure of the NBU’s foreign exchange reserves has been investigated according to the IMF. The dynamics of international reserves of Ukraine for 2009-2019 is analyzed. Two waves in the dynamics of Ukraine’s international reserves have been identified, and in the whole, for the period under review, there is a negative tendency to decrease the amount of Ukraine’s international reserves, with the linear speed of their decrease amounting to USD 1354.7 million per year.
The study of the structure of the OIR showed that gold becomes a significant component of the OIR in an unstable world economic situation. The first twenty countries of the world are analyzed for gold reserves and the place of Ukraine is determined. The conclusion was made about the tendency of growth of reserves, reflected the growth rates in the whole and in individual countries, the rating of the countries, the leaders of growth were determined.
As for the top 20 countries, the spatial-temporal changes in their OIR share of gold are, first, the result of historical (genetic) factors and traditions, and, second, crisis states, economic volatility, etc. Most developed countries have a high proportion of gold in the reserves. The largest owner of the gold reserve is the United States.
The spatiotemporal changes of the OIR of the countries of the world are conditioned by the deep processes of socio-economic convergence/divergence that require further research.
Methodology. The research is based on a systemic approach with the use of the broad spectrum of qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis of statistic data, comparative analysis, methods of induction, deduction, and generalization.