Category Archives: Reserve Bank of Australia

News live updates: hundreds charged after NSW domestic violence operation; South Australia moves to ban no cause evictions

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Four-day operation results in 1,107 domestic violence charges being laid against 592 people. Follow live

‘Textbook fiscal policy’ from Labor about getting economy ‘in nick’

Chalmers is asked whether it’s possible to control inflation without the unemployment rate growing further.

Remains to be seen.

We’ve got the budget in better nick, not the expense of the economy but in addition, and cost-of-living help is targeted in out-of-pocket health costs, electricity, rent and some particular pressure points. We found $40 billion of savings over two budgets compared to zero in savings in the last Liberal budget.

So all of those things are about get getting the economy in nick at the same time we provide help for people to get through through a difficult period.

The point that Michele Bullock was making in that speech, which, again, I think is relatively uncontroversial, is that as the Reserve Bank forecast and the treasury forecasts, have inflation moderating in coming months, they have a tick-up in unemployment. I’ve been upfront. The challenges in the economy are unsubstantial, globally and domestically, I think the slow-down is expected in the forecasts to be significant. That will have implications for the unemployment rate, which is the point that Michele Bullock was making.

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Michele Bullock spells continuity at RBA – but respite unlikely for borrowers

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The new chief was one of the board members raising interest rates, but has been brought in to reform the central bank

When the Albanese government announced Michele Bullock as the next Reserve Bank governor on Friday, few were particularly surprised – and that was the plan.

Sure, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, got on the front foot the previous day, prematurely warning against choosing a public servant. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, had shared his shortlist with his shadow, Angus Taylor, but held back Bullock as his pick.

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Government ‘realistic’ about chances in Fadden – as it happened

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Singleton Roosters to play their first game since tragic bus accident

NSW premier Chris Minns is in Cessnock today, where he will attend the first games of the women’s and men’s Singleton Roosters Australian rules football teams since the bus tragedy that rocked the community in June.

For the rest of winter and into spring, there’s a very high chance of above average temperatures, and actually quite a high chance of unusually warm temperatures as well.

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RBA lifer Michele Bullock may have the luck of playing good cop to Philip Lowe’s bad

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The Reserve Bank of Australia’s first female governor will begin her appointment at or very near the end of the cycle of rate rises

Australia will get its first female Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock, and the order of the day is continuity with change.

Continuity because Bullock is an extremely well qualified RBA lifer with four decades of experience.

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Nationals accuse Labor of ‘hypocrisy’ over response to scathing APVMA report – as it happened

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Cabinet meeting to decide Lowe’s successor today

Philip Lowe will be replaced as the Reserve Bank governor, with today’s cabinet meeting to decide his successor, Guardian Australia has confirmed.

If I was asked to continue in the role, I would be honoured to do that and I would continue.

If I am not asked to continue in the role, I will do my best to support my successor, and the treasurer has said he will make an announcement before the end of this month.

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Next RBA governor should not be a senior public servant, Peter Dutton says

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Speculation mounts Cabinet will sign off on decision on Friday, as Liberal leader says position should have no connection to government

A senior public servant should not be appointed the next Reserve Bank of Australia governor in order to avoid any connection with past governments, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says.

As speculation mounts the government is set to sign off on the appointment at a Cabinet meeting on Friday, Dutton said the potential successor should not come from the public service.

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Where to next for the Australian economy, the RBA – and Philip Lowe?

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The Reserve Bank governor will soon find out if his term has been extended – but economic hints from major banks tell a happier story than expected

Philip Lowe may yet go down as one of the unluckiest central bank governors in Australian history or perhaps elsewhere.

Within a few days, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will decide on whether to extend the Reserve Bank governor’s seven-year contract when it concludes in mid-September. Few expect Lowe will get the nod to stay on.

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RBA interest rates: banks split on future rate hikes as uncertain economic outlook prompts pause

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Homeowners with a mortgage will be breathing a sigh of relief after RBA paused rate rising at Tuesday’s board meeting

Australian borrowers have had a reprieve after the Reserve Bank paused its interest rate hikes for only the second time in the past 14 meetings, giving the central bank more time to assess the state of the economy.

The RBA left its official cash rate at 4.1% on Tuesday, which is still the highest level in 11 years. Economists had been divided in their forecasts, with about half predicting the pause and the others expecting another 25 basis point increase.

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Minister suggests rate pause based on uncertain outlook – as it happened

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Foreign minister Penny Wong says the focus of Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo’s visit to Australia will be on strengthening economic ties between the two countries, on ABC RN this morning.

One of the things we’re focused on is how do we improve our economic ties. Obviously, the nation is an increasing economic power and will be over the next decade. We want to make sure we’re partners in that. So there will be a great focus on the economy and the economic relationship.

You’ll see some big changes to make sure we make business travel easier.

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RBA should pause rate rises as ‘deflationary shock’ sweeps global economy, former board member says

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Warwick McKibbin says Australia’s central bank has been slow to react as supply pressures from Covid and war in Ukraine abate

The Reserve Bank should pause lifting interest rates because a “deflationary shock” is beginning to sweep the global economy, according to the former RBA board member Warwick McKibbin.

The director of the ANU Research School of Economics said it is becoming clear supply shocks from Covid and Russia’s war against Ukraine are abating. However central banks, including Australia’s, have so far been slow to react.

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Inflation retreated in May to 5.6%, easing fears RBA will again raise interest rates

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Consumer price index fell in May from 6.5% in April showing further signs that the worst of inflation may be over

Australia’s monthly inflation rate retreated in May, easing fears the Reserve Bank will hoist its key interest rate again at next Tuesday’s board meeting.

The headline consumer price index increase last month was 5.6%, the lowest since April 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Economists had expected the measure to drop from April’s 6.8% level to 6.1%.

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Australia politics live: Mehreen Faruqi says housing fund standoff ‘not about playing political games’

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Independent Kooyong MP Dr Monique Ryan said the crossbench was distressed by the past week in parliament:

I can speak for other members of the crossbench because we talk to each other after each question time because we found it distressing, and we wanted to stand to our feet and say that we felt it was conduct unbecoming parliament, and I think if we learn nothing from this, we have to decide as a society whether we want our parliament really to be dragging people who have gone through really difficult experiences through that sort of experience again. It wasn’t ideal. It was – I actually felt it was shameful.

I think there were serious questions that needed to be asked in the face of a minister misleading the Senate and we asked questions about who knew what, when, what was done with that information – all very legitimate questions, and this issue, when it was last in parliament was pursued ferociously by the then opposition and I think we were very careful as we could be with our tone, but to also ask legitimate questions of the government and their ministers, not just around who knew what when but also around the swiftness of the compensation payment, why some evidence in that process was explicitly excluded, and that, you know, the substantial nature of it – all legitimate questions and the right thing to do.

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Greens renew push for rent freeze as housing bodies say ‘time is of the essence’ to pass Labor bill

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Nick McKim to introduce private member’s bill in Senate to promote market intervention

The Greens will continue to push for a national freeze on rents and interest rate rises, declaring there is more the Albanese government can do to address Australia’s housing cost crisis.

Their call comes as the country’s peak housing bodies call for the debate deadlock to be broken and for Labor’s Housing Australia future fund to be passed this week.

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$15,000 more a year: homeowners brace as interest rate hikes bring ‘mortgage cliff’ closer

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Rate rises mean that households with an average $576,985 mortgage will have to find an extra $1250 a month

Jack Lynch and his partner moved out of Sydney to the picturesque but cheaper Blue Mountains to become homeowners in 2021, and promptly locked in a cut-rate, fixed-rate loan.

The couple, in their early 30s, are now bracing for that loan to expire, and for repayments to increase by more than $2,000 a month.

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Australia in ‘retail recession’ as inflation and rate hikes hit spending, says report

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With spending expected to dip again in the June quarter, Deloitte forecasts a broader ‘consumer recesssion’ later this year

Australia is the midst of a “retail recession” as inflation and higher interest rates erode the buying power of consumers, according to a report by Deloitte Access Economics.

Retail turnover once inflation is stripped out sank 0.6% in the March quarter, or twice the pace of the retreat in the final three months of 2022. The June quarter is also likely to post a drop in retail sales, making it three consecutive quarters of decline.

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Australia news live: budget and minimum wage hike not to blame for rising interest rates, Chalmers says

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Treasurer points finger at inflation, adding ‘people are under pressure and the global economic conditions are not helping either’. Follow live

Parts of Victoria and South Australia are being warned to expect heavy rainfall today.

The heavy rain that’s already hit Western Australia is sweeping across the country, with South Australia’s Riverland and Murraylands warned to brace for heavy rainfall to last until Friday.

We want to see productivity get going. We have had the worst decade, I think, in productivity growth in the last 60 years in the previous decade so there’s a lot of work to do. We can’t turn that around in one year.

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Interest rate pain felt ‘unevenly’ but that’s not a reason to avoid rises, Philip Lowe says

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The Reserve Bank governor says rates will keep being lifted if necessary, despite 'significant financial pressure’ for some

Philip Lowe concedes interest rate pain is being felt “unevenly” across Australia but he says that is not a reason to avoid using the one tool the Reserve Bank has to tame inflation and raise rates further.

The RBA governor has also warned against the idea that all workers should be compensated for inflation, saying “we have to make sure that higher inflation doesn’t translate into higher wages for everybody”.

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Political point scoring over latest RBA rate rise won’t help those feeling the ‘painful squeeze’

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How high must rates go to choke inflation? Blaming Labor’s budget, price-gouging businesses or the national wage increase isn’t an answer

The Reserve Bank is all about “seeking to keep the economy on an even keel” as it cranks up interest rates to crush inflation – but the effect of multiple rate rises is anything but even.

The central bank again surprised most economists and investors on Tuesday by hiking its cash rate another 25 basis points to 4.1%.

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RBA interest rates: Reserve Bank increases cash rate by 25 basis points in attempt to quash inflation

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RBA decision to raise Australia’s cash rate by another 25 basis points brings the official rate to 4.1%, its highest level in 11 years

The Reserve Bank has lifted interest rates for a 12th time in just over a year, judging the risk of inflation staying too high for too long outweighed the added financial stress that will hurt households and businesses.

The decision to hike by another 25 basis points brings the cash rate to 4.1%, its highest level in 11 years. Economists and markets had slightly favoured no change for this month.

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Central bank going ‘rogue’, senator claims – as it happened

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Burke says the loophole only applies to where the business has agreed on a minimum rate of pay:

The loopholes are really simple … which is, if an employer agrees with their workforce and registers, this should be the rate of pay.

You shouldn’t then be able to go to a labour hire company and completely undercut what you’ve just agreed to.

Yesterday was one of the one of the strangest debates I’ve ever found myself in – because business was running a passionate campaign against a policy that the government is not proposing, that the government’s not going to do. And to me, it would sound like a bad idea anyway.

Effectively the way business were arguing yesterday – there was someone on PM yesterday afternoon, claiming that somehow this would prevent hairdressers from being able to pay different rates of pay for the people in their employment. Just not true.

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