Deane served as Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund from 1974 to 1976. While at the Reserve Bank, Deane published numerous papers on monetary, exchange-rate, and fiscal policy, as well as in the fields of international economics. He led a research-team which developed New Zealand's first macroeconometric model and published many papers in this area. He authored and edited a range of books on monetary policy and financial-sector matters, the external sector and foreign investment. Deane later became the inaugural winner of the NZIER Qantas "Economist of the Year" Award.