Central Banks and Cash Round-Up

In the start of a new series in Currency News, we will be providing a summary of each month of central bank annual reports, and in particular developments regarding cash – be it circulation, management or counterfeiting.

This month, we look at Australia, Malaysia, Namibia and Switzerland.

Cash Payments Down in Australia

In the annual report recently released by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), it stated that the value of banknotes in circulation reached $102.3 billion at the end of June 2022, equivalent to around 4.5% of nominal GDP. Growth over 2021/22 was 7.2%, marginally higher than its 10-year average, but below the growth rates seen during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

Much of the increase in circulating banknotes reflected a more subdued pace of banknotes being returned to the RBA, rather than additional banknote purchases. Overall, there were a little under 2 billion banknotes in circulation.