Reserve Bank of Australia Annual Report – 1994 Financial Statements Operating Earnings (and Net Profits)

Note 2 Operating Earnings (and Net Profits)

As shown in the following table, net profits in terms of the Reserve Bank Act in 1993/94 were $1,508 million, some $2,405 million lower than in 1992/93.

This year, interest received and paid on overnight settlements systems has been shown as a net figure; this accords with the netting of the underlying asset and liability on the balance sheet.

The maintenance of value payment to the International Monetary Fund reflects the effects of exchange rate movements on Australia's obligations to maintain the value, in Special Drawing Rights, of the International Monetary Fund's holdings of Australian currency. “Consultants' fees” cover payments made to specialists for “review and advice” services; they include legal and audit fees, but exclude expenditure on consultants incurred in respect of major refurbishment projects where such costs are capitalised as part of the asset value. (See also Note 13.)

The Bank assesses regularly the value of notes from series issued at least ten years previously which are judged to have been destroyed and therefore unavailable for presentation. In 1993/94, an amount of $20.7 million was written off Australian Notes on Issue and included in “Other Revenues”. (The last such write-off was $35.0 million in 1989/90.)