In the context of mobile capital flows, it may be BIS Review 76/1997  -4-  useful to assess the level of reserves in terms of the volume of short-term debt which can be covered by reserves.
At the end of March 1997, the ratio of short-term debt to the level of reserves amounted to a little over 25 per cent, compared to about 100 per cent for Indonesia, 50 per cent for Argentina, and 25 per cent for Malaysia.