BUNDESBANK GROSS RESERVES RISE AT MARCH CLOSE
The Bundesbank's gross currency
reserves rose 300 mln marks in the last week of March to 104.9
billion marks, the Bundesbank said in a statement.
    At the same time its foreign liabilities rose 100 mln to
22.8 billion, producing a rise in net reserves of 200 mln to
82.2 billion on March 31.
    The Bundesbank provided banks with liquidity in the fourth
March week by disbursing funds in the money market via
government-owned banks. Banks took up the Bundesbank's standing
offer of treasury bills to place excess liquidity.
    Banks received more liquidity through routine month-end
payments by public authorities as well as expansionary market
factors than was lost through the 2.3 billion mark rise in cash
in circulation to 122.3 billion, the Bundesbank said.
    But banks had to draw heavily on the Lombard emergency
financing facility due to month-end tightness, borrowing 5.3
billion marks.
    Overall, banks' holdings at the Bundesbank rose 10.2
billion marks to 58.5 billion at the end of the month,
averaging 50.9 billion in the whole of March.
    The minimum reserve requirement for March, before deduction
of banks' cash holdings, was set at 61 billion marks.
    Public authorities' net holdings at the Bundesbank fell to
2.2 billion marks in the last March week from 4.4 billion the
week before. The federal states' holdings fell 2.6 billion to
2.4 billion.
    The federal government's holdings rose 700 mln marks to 5.1
billion.
 REUTER
