contribution to australia's economic success. our flexible inflation targeting framework has served the country well and the overall economic outcomes in australia have been at least as good as those elsewhere. the panel also concluded that the rba is held in high regard internationally and that its staff are highly dedicated and skilled. we are a strong institution that is served by a dedicated, diverse and highly experienced board whose members have to grapple with very difficult issues. we have a strong focus on doing what is right for the country as a whole over the medium term, even if it is difficult for some people in the short term. today's decision by the board is an example of that. i would like to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to two reserve bank board members who will soon be retiring. today's meeting was the final one for wendy craik, and mark barnaba's term on the board will end in august. both wendy and mark have served on the board with great distinction. they have had to deal with a period when inflation was too low, a global pandemic, unprecedented monetary policy actions, the economic effects of an horrific war in europe, the transition in our energy system and the highest inflation in 30 years. all that in less than six years. in my view, their contributions over these years reinforce the argument for the monetary policy board continuing to have strong, experienced and independent members drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds. as i hope you know, the rba has many other responsibilities other than setting interest rates. one of these is that we print and issue the nation's banknotes. this remains a very important function for us, despite banknotes being used less and less for payments. according to our latest survey of how australians make their payments, cash now 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches accounts for just 13 per cent of all consumer payments. fifteen years ago, that figure was nearly 70 per cent. that is a big change and i expect that it will continue. despite this, the stock of banknotes on issue has continued to grow over recent years. there is nearly $ 4, 000 on issue for every australian, including 18 $ 100 bills for every man, woman and child. i don't have my share and i don't know many people who do. the rba is also investigating new forms of digital money, including a central bank digital currency. it is too early to tell where this will end up, but history teaches

globalised nature of markets. the discussion will also need to pay due regard to the potential for other consequences of changes to practice in this area, including the possibility that private entities become so confident that liquidity risk has effectively been removed that they end up taking more risk of other types. that could leave both themselves and their central banks in an awkward position at some point down the track. so in parallel with ongoing development of liquidity arrangements by central banks, there will need to be a focus in the supervisory community and the banks themselves on liquidity management. conclusion international financial events over the past nine months have been a source of considerable instability. risk that was always in the economic environment has belatedly been recognised. the ensuing process of assessing and disclosing losses, finding new capital and de leveraging has been very difficult. matters have not been helped by the opacity and complexity of some of the financial instruments involved, and the associated problems in valuing them. for market participants and policy makers alike, this environment has been challenging indeed. those of you in the markets are dealing with heightened volatility and uncertainty. policy makers, meanwhile, are working hard to stabilise the present international situation. in some countries, especially the us, that involves being prepared to take measures quite aggressively, in an effort to avert a cumulative spiral of declining asset values and deteriorating creditworthiness feeding back on itself and doing great damage to the economy. in other countries, where financial strains are also occurring though not always to the same extent, it has thus far involved significant changes to liquidity management, while balancing the financial risks against other macroeconomic risks in an effort to foster long run stability. in all countries, though, policy makers are also keeping an eye out for the potential low probability, but high cost, downside events that could emerge. it looks as though the environment will remain quite challenging for us all for a while but the strength of the australian financial system is, for australia, a good basis for meeting the challenge.