Only a quarter of Australia's banknotes "are used to make legitimate day-to-day transactions" RBA governor Philip Lowe said last night."Between half and three-quarters are held as a store of value in safes, under beds and at the back of cupboards, both here in Australia and elsewhere around the world," he told a community dinner in Melbourne last night."We estimate that a further 4 to 8 per cent are used in the shadow economy, either to hide transactions from the tax office or to undertake illegal transactions. "Finally, it appears that between 5 and 10 per cent of banknotes are either simply lost, maybe at the beach, or destroyed, perhaps in a natural disaster. So, as best we can tell, that is where all the banknotes are."