, the domestic provision of liquidity via refinancing operations and asset purchases combined with liquidity inflows from other countries led to a considerable increase in deposits during the past year : liabilities related to monetary policy operations were up by €458. 5 billion compared with the end of 2019, hitting €1, 018. 8 billion – in other words, nearly doubling. euro - denominated balances of domestic and foreign depositors reported in liability items 3, 4 and 5 were likewise higher on the back of larger general government and foreign central bank holdings, rising by €202. 4 billion to €474. 0 billion. just under one - third of all deposits of credit institutions throughout the eurosystem continue to be held with the bundesbank. the value of banknotes issued by the bundesbank also rose further, climbing by €71. 5 billion to €821. 0 billion, an increase of 9. 5 %. the revaluation accounts are also worth taking a look at. this item increased by €17. 5 billion year on year to €161. 8 billion. the revaluation reserve for gold rose by €20. 4 billion to €159. 0 billion. the price of gold in euro as at the end of 2020 exceeded the previous year ’ s figure by around 14 %. viewed over the long term, there is a sustained marked increase in the revaluation reserve for gold. compared with its starting balance at the launch of monetary union ( €21 billion as at 1 january 1999 ), this revaluation reserve is, with a current balance of €159. 0 billion, around eight 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches times as large as it was at the start of january 1999. the revaluation reserves for foreign currencies shrank by over half due to the stronger euro, year on year, with the bulk of the decrease, totalling €3. 1 billion, being attributable to the us dollar. the exchange rate of the euro against the us dollar rose from us $ 1. 1234 to us $ 1. 2271. allow me to conclude with a brief overview of the profit and loss account. the main component of the profit and loss account is net interest income, which recorded a €1. 8 billion decrease from €4. 6 billion to €2. 9 billion. this is notably down to the €1. 4 billion increase

in interest expense incurred in connection with refinancing operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. owing to the topping - up of provisions for general risks – which my colleague dr weidmann has already explained – the net result of financial operations closed the year with a net expense of €1, 557 million, following net income of €2, 281 million in the previous year. at €0. 6 billion in 2020 versus €0. 5 billion in 2019, there was little year - on - year change in income from participating interests. expenditure from the pooling of monetary income rose by €0. 6 billion owing to the allocation of the monetary expense arising from tltro - iii operations in the eurosystem according to capital share. staff costs fell by €0. 3 billion to €0. 6 billion due to lower transfers to staff provisions. figuring in at €0. 7 billion, administrative expenses including banknote production services and depreciation of tangible fixed assets remained virtually unchanged on the year. the profit and loss account for financial year 2020 closed with a balanced annual result, following profit for the year of €5. 8 billion in 2019. distributable profit is zero. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches