Optimal Foreign Exchange Portfolio for Iran

Management of Foreign exchange reserves is important for every country. This matter is also of particular interest for Iran as an Oil exporting developing country. This paper designs an optimal portfolio for that part of foreign exchange incomes which is used for investment. Using the data on foreign exchange daily returns, for the period 2000-2008, and applying univariate and multivariate Garch models, we estimate a model which maximizes expected returns subject to a Value-at-Risk constraint. The results are examined using Backtesting, and then the most acceptable model is suggested. The results that the multivariate GARCH model is the most efficient method for selecting the foreign exchange optimal portfolio in Iran.