Czech central bank to assess options for diversifying reserves

The Czech National Bank's board has approved conducting an analysis to look at broadening the asset classes in its reserves portfolio, the bank said on Thursday, after Governor Ales Michl flagged bitcoin as an option under consideration."Based on the results of the analysis, the Bank Board will then decide how to proceed further. No changes will be implemented in this area until then," the bank said in a statement.Michl told the Financial Times in an interview published on Wednesday that he wanted to present a plan to invest in bitcoin and to eventually hold as much as 5% of its 140 billion euro ($146.13 billion) reserves in bitcoin. Central banks traditionally park reserves in more conservative assets and some have warned about the risks of using cryptocurrencies in public coffers. The Czech central bank (CNB) has been in a process to diversify its large holdings in recent years, gradually purchasing gold and shifting a larger portion of its portfolio into equities. After meeting on international reserves management on Thursday, the bank said the board had approved a proposal to analyse the options for investing in additional asset classes. "At the proposal of Governor Ales Michl, the CNB is to assess whether it would be appropriate in terms of diversification and return to include other asset classes in the reserves as well," the bank said.