Australians did not just hoard loo paper and tinned tomatoes as the coronavirus pandemic spread through the country last month – they started stockpiling cash.

The Reserve Bank of Australia, in its six-monthly review of the health of the financial system released on Thursday, noted some extraordinary behaviour by people at the nation's banks.

Australians responded to the coronavirus pandemic by hoarding loo paper, tinned tomatoes and cash. Credit:Alamy

As occurred during the depths of the global financial crisis, people raced into their banks to withdraw cash. Some people with large balances withdrew huge sums of money.

"This included a small number of customers making very large withdrawals (more than $100,000 and in some cases into the millions of dollars)," the RBA noted.