4  BIS Review 85/2005  same time, old habits died hard so that as recently as March 1987 the Australian Government made its last overseas borrowing in the US market in US dollars. In time, overseas investors became comfortable with holding Australian government paper, semi and local paper, and eventually corporate bonds and asset-backed securities.
Turnover in the Australian dollar is sixth amongst the world currencies and there is ample liquidity in both currency and asset markets. The relevant derivative contracts have grown, and so provided hedging opportunities. As we point out in a forthcoming Bulletin article, Australia as a whole has for some time had a long foreign currency position.