MONETARY EQUILIBRIUM AND INTERNATIONAL RESERVE FLOWS IN AUSTRALIA.

The balance of payments in an open economy plays an important role in determining changes in the stock of domestic money. International reserve inflows, for example, will increase the domestic stock of money if they are added directly to the money balances of residents, or if they are exchanged for domestic currency at the central bank. In Australia, reserve flows are an important factor, and occasionally a dominant one, in determining changes in the domestic stock of money. This observation raises the question, what are the major determinants of Australian reserve flows and what role, if any, do policy actions play in affecting reserve flows? In this paper the latter, and simpler, approach is taken. Reserve flows are related to factors determining growth in demand for money, and to policy and other domestically determined factors that contribute to growth in the stock of money. This money-market approach to the balance of payments is a slightly modified version of a model developed by H. G. Johnson (1972). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]