The historical data in this table are sourced from Becker C and M Sinclair
(2004), :Profitability of Reserve Bank Foreign Exchange Operations:
Twenty Years After the Float-C/, RB Research Discussion Paper No
2004-06. Updates to the data are published annually with a one-year lag.
It is not appropriate to use the :Market-C/ series as a proxy for
foreign exchange market intervention. The RB engages in spot or forward
transactions with dealers in the market virtually every day. Most of these
transactions are not intended to influence the exchange rate. Rather, they
occur to cover orders for foreign exchange from clients such as the Australian
Government. When the RB sells foreign exchange to a client, it has the choice
of meeting this out of its holdings of foreign exchange or buying the
equivalent amount of foreign exchange in the market. Most of the time it does
the latter, though even then the timing of the sale and purchase may not
coincide precisely. The RB can also engage in foreign exchange transactions
with counterparties other than dealers as a means of covering client orders.
Daily net foreign exchange transactions, net sales (-) and purchases (+), are
reported according to the date on which the trade took place. This is in
contrast to the monthly transactions data in Table A.4, which are reported
according to the day on which settlement took place. Another difference to
Table A.4 is that interest received on holdings of foreign assets is not
included.
aMarketa transactions are foreign exchange transactions against the Australian
dollar (excluding foreign exchange swaps) undertaken by the RB with
authorised foreign exchange dealers in Australia or banks overseas.
aGovernment and other counterpartiesa transactions include the RBAas foreign
exchange transactions with the Australian Government, outright transactions
with other central banks and international financial institutions that are not
intended to affect the exchange rate, and transactions with clients other than
the Australian Government.