No decision is likely to be made on the final destination of the Central Bank's reserves until the beginning of the next century.
It now appears that central banks across Europe are unlikely to make a decision on how to use the potential billions in surplus funds until the new millennium.
The funds, which come to some £1.4 billion here, are being eyed by EU states as a possible way to pay off national debt or to fund capital spending projects.
However, the European Central Bank is not yet looking at the issue and it is understood it is unlikely to be a priority on the agenda for some years.
Earlier this week, the ECB decided on the amounts which national central banks would manage on its behalf and, as a result, the Central Bank here will manage about £350 million for the ECB or 400 million euro, including about six million euro in gold.
Altogether, the Bank currently manages funds of around £4.83 billion. But much of this has to be held on to simply to balance liabilities such as bank deposits and outstanding currency, which come to about £1 billion and £2 billion respectively.
At the end of December the free assets after these liabilities had been matched were about £1.4 billion. These are technically "shareholders' funds" and, as such, belong to the Minister for Finance.
There has been much debate about where these funds should end up. Mr McCreevy said yesterday that it would not be his "preferred option" to use the surplus for day to day spending.
"Their use to pay part of the national debt is an option I would consider," he said.
Earlier this year, the central bank in Belgium sold substantial amounts of its gold reserves, which were then used by the government to pay off debt. However, the Belgian bank did have an exceptionally high level of surplus, at almost 40 per cent of funds. The Irish level is closer to the EU average of around 25 per cent.
The central banks insist they need these funds to guard against the uncertainty that is monetary union. Here, the Central Bank lost almost £400 million from the pound value of its foreign reserves when the pound appreciated a few years ago and it would also be exposed to significant losses on foreign exchange holdings in currencies such as US dollars if the euro were to appreciate significantly. The Department of Finance and, indeed, finance ministers across the euro zone are understood to agree with the Central Bank's caution, although individual politicians would, of course, like to get their hands on the money. There are also very unlikely to impose a decision on the ECB, as it could be interpreted as being an undermining of the independence of the central banks. There is also a problem about how the capital ratio - or amount of surplus - is valued in the different countries.
As a result, over the next few years at least, the Central Bank here will be managing about £350 million on the behalf of the ECB, as well as a second portfolio on its own behalf. Each will have different benchmarks, but the level of return which the ECB will expect is not yet clear. And the central banks will be almost in competition with one another in an attempt to beat the benchmark.
The various national central banks will not actually be handing over the money to the ECB - it will be counted as a loan to Frankfurt on which it will have to pay interest. But most of the profit will be passed over. This will go into a pool which will then be passed back to the central banks as a dividend, although the ECB can retain 20 per cent to strengthen its capital base.
