Öz
In the literature, it has been predicted that flexibility in exchange rate regimes causes a decrease in international reserves demand. However, the realization does not support this prediction, and it is seen that the demand for international reserves has been increasing in almost all economies. In this study, after the aforementioned determination is made, in order to understand the reason for this, international reserve demand theory, empirical studies and determination of optimal reserves level are examined respectively. For this purpose, theories discussing why central banks hold reserves are evaluated comparatively, and then, what empirical studies point to is analysed in detail. The main determinants of international reserve demand are considered in three groups: the probability of a country to experience a crisis, the damage to the economy in case of a foreign payment difficulties due to a crisis, and the opportunity cost of holding reserves. In this study, both the reserve demand and the interactions of these three elements are discussed in detail. It has been seen that a more flexible exchange rate regime does not enable central banks to demand less reserves but causes a significant increase in speed of reserve-money balance adjustment.