The Riksbank’s balance sheet

The Riksbank’s financial assets and liabilities

The gold and foreign exchange reserves – the Riksbank’s greatest asset

The Riksbank manages financial assets to ensure that it can perform its tasks. The largest part of the assets is made up of the gold and foreign currency reserves. This ensures that the Riksbank, if necessary, can supply temporary liquidity support in foreign currency and intervene in the foreign exchange market. The foreign exchange reserve mostly consists of debt securities in foreign currencies with high liquidity and low credit risk, primarily government bonds.

Another large share of the assets consists of securities in Swedish kronor purchased by the Riksbank for monetary policy purposes. In 2015, the Riksbank began buying Swedish government bonds to counteract low inflation. After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the purchases were extended to include other Swedish securities to support the economy and counteract problems in the financial markets. Since January 2023, no such purchases are made. With effect from April 2023, the Riksbank has instead sold Swedish government bonds. As the Riksbank’s holdings are sold off and mature, they will decline as a proportion of the Riksbank’s total assets.

The assets also include claims on the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These consist partly of the Riksbank's holdings of special drawing rights (SDRs) and partly of loans to the IMF. Other assets include the Riksbank's premises at Brunkebergstorg and shares in the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

The banking system's claims on the Riksbank - the Riksbank's largest liability

The Riksbank’s financial liabilities mostly consist of the banking system’s claims in Swedish kronor on the Riksbank. This is mainly because the Riksbank borrows Swedish kronor from the banking system to finance its holdings of Swedish and foreign securities. When the banks’ total claims exceed their total liabilities in Swedish kronor to the Riksbank, the banking system has a liquidity surplus with regard to the Riksbank. This has been the case for the banking system since 2008. Banks that are monetary policy counterparties can deposit their surplus with the Riksbank either overnight in the standing deposit facility or in Riksbank Certificates with a one-week maturity. Deposits increased sharply during the years when the Riksbank purchased Swedish securities because the purchases provided the banking system with liquidity. When these securities are now sold off and mature, the liquidity surplus will decrease and thus also the banks' deposits with the Riksbank.

In October 2025, the Riksbank introduced a deposit requirement. This means that banks and other credit institutions operating in Sweden must deposit a certain amount of funds with the Riksbank without interest. As part of the banking system's deposits will be interest-free, this will reduce the Riksbank's interest costs. Interest-free deposits may not exceed the difference between the so-called target level and equity. For further information, see Interest-free deposits (deposit requirement).

The Riksbank also has a liability to the IMF corresponding to the value of the SDR the Riksbank has been allocated by the IMF. In addition, the Riksbank has a liability to the Swedish National Debt Office consisting of foreign currency that the Debt Office has borrowed to fund parts of the Riksbank’s lending to the IMF.

The Riksbank issues the banknotes and coins that are used in Sweden. The value of banknotes and coins in circulation is reported as a liability on the balance sheet.

Profits, losses and the Riksbank's equity

If the Riksbank makes a profit, it can be used to build up equity and risk buffers. When equity is sufficiently large, the surplus is distributed to the state according to the framework for the Riksbank’s equity. Profits that have not yet been realised are reported in so-called revaluation accounts (read more about revaluation accounts and the Riksbank's accounting rules in the Riksbank's Annual Report).

Equity can be considered as a liability to the Swedish state as the state owns the Riksbank. As the state does not have an explicit required return from the Riksbank, equity can be seen as interest-free capital (interest-free liability) for the Riksbank.

Equity and revaluation accounts constitute the Riksbank's main buffers to cover potential losses. Together with possible risk provisions, outstanding cash and the interest-free deposits they comprise the Riksbank's interest-free debt. The interest-free debt favours the Riksbank's earnings as it contributes to lower interest costs. In the long term, the Riksbank's earnings should cover the costs arising from the Riksbank being able to fulfil its objectives and perform its tasks. The earnings should also generate a profit so that the Riksbank can build up its own capital and other risk buffers and thereby create financial independence.

The Sveriges Riksbank Act (Read more under ”Sveriges Riksbank Act”) regulates how profit and loss shall be managed. If equity exceeds the so-called target level, the Riksbank shall distribute money to the government. If the sum of equity and unrealised gains on revaluation accounts, except the account for gold, is too low, the Riksbank may request more capital from the central government. Such a capital injection will restore the Riksbank’s capital to a level that ensures financial independence. The Riksbank also has the option of using profits for risk provisions, which allows the Riksbank to build up an extra buffer in advance against risks of future losses. The Sveriges Riksbank Act also regulates the amount of interest-free deposits the Riksbank may require from the banks.

A central bank is, financially speaking, a very resilient institution because it can always pay for itself in its own currency. A central bank can therefore operate as usual with low or even negative equity for a period, as recent examples show (read more about these in the Riksbank’s Staff Memo). In the longer term, however, it is important that the Riksbank has sufficient capital to be self-financing and to be able to bear the risks associated with its mandate. The Riksbank’s financial independence is an important part of its independence in a broader sense. The independence of a central bank is fundamentally important for creating confidence in the inflation target and monetary policy, but also for other tasks that the central bank has. Thus, in addition to financial independence, it needs to have political and operational independence backed by the law.