Media Release Trade-weighted Index

The Bank has revised the weights for currencies included in the trade-weighted index (TWI) of the Australian dollar. This reflects changes in the composition of Australia's merchandise trade in 2002/03. The new weights take effect from 1 October 2003.

The new and old weights are shown in the table below. The number of currencies included in the TWI will fall to 22 from 23 as the United Arab Emirates dirham will drop out. Similar to last year, there will be an increase in the combined weight of European currencies, a fall in the weight of North American currencies, and little change in the aggregate weight of Asian currencies. Of the Asian currencies, the largest changes will be an increase in the weight of the Chinese renminbi and a fall in the weight of the Japanese yen. Despite this fall, the Japanese yen will continue to have the largest single weight of 16.6 per cent.