The past year saw a number of factors expand the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) balance sheet, governor Glenn Stevens wrote in the central bank’s Annual Report 2014.

Stevens described the changes as “substantial”, saying there were two main drivers of the growth. First, the Australian government contributed A$8.8 billion ($7.7 billion) to speed the repair of the RBA’s capital position, after the central bank suffered “large losses” from a rise in the Australian dollar.

Second, many payments