EXCHANGE EQUALISATION ACCOUNTS INDEX

See below for accounts for years ending 2003-2004, 2002-2003, 2001-2002, 2000-2001, 1999-2000, 1998-1999, 1997-1998.

The Exchange Equalisation Account (EEA) is the account that holds the UK's reserves of gold, foreign currencies and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). It was established in 1932 to provide a fund which could be used for "checking undue fluctuations in the exchange value of sterling". Subsequent legislation has extended the possible use of this fund; and under the consolidating Exchange Equalisation Account Act 1979, it may also be used:

to secure the conservation or disposition in the national interest of making payments abroad; and
for certain purposes arising out of the UK's membership of the IMF, including the holding, purchase and sale of SDRs.

Under the Finance Act 2000 (section 4 of the EEA Act 1979) the Treasury has a statutory obligation to publish a full set of annual financial accounts for the EEA. The accounts are audited by the National Audit Office and laid before both Houses of Parliament.

Account documents are available below in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website. For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page.