Australian dollar

The Australian dollar, AUD or A$, is the official currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. It is sometimes affectionately called the "Aussie battler"; during a low period (relative to the US dollar) around 2001 and 2002 the currency was sometimes locally called the "Pacific Peso."

Exchange rate policies

For much of its history, Australia maintained a peg to the British pound reflecting its historical ties as well as a view about the stability in value of the British pound. From 1946 to 1971 Australia maintained a peg to the US dollar under the Bretton Woods system. With the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in 1971 Australia replace the mostly fixed peg to a moving peg against the US dollar. In September 1974 Australia moved to a peg against a basket of currencies called the TWI (trade weighted index) in an effort to reduce fluctuations associated with its peg to the US dollar. The peg to the TWI was changed to a moving peg in November 1976 where the actual value of the peg was periodically adjusted. In December 1983, the Australian government "floated" the Australian dollar, meaning that it no longer managed its value by reference to any foreign currency.

Related Topics:
Bretton Woods system - Floated

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