GENERAL NEWS
THE Reserve Bank’s most recent board meeting saw a “clear step down” in its hawkishness, although deputy governor Andrew Hauser reiterated yesterday that the central bank...
Minutes from the RBA’s September board meeting, which saw the official cash rate maintained at 4.35%, showed discussion around monetary policy focused on upside and...
Official inflation figures for August were released the day after the conclusion of the two-day meeting, and showed the biggest monthly drop since December,...
The minutes showed the board discussed scenarios in which future monetary policy might need to be held restrictive for a prolonged period or tightened further, including a material...
The board judged that labour market conditions in Australia were still tight relative to both full employment and conditions in other economies...
Another scenario was if the outlook for aggregate supply proved to be more constrained than expected, such as if the economy’s current supply potential had been overestimated or...
Members also considered a formal analysis in which the economy’s supply capacity was more limited than currently assumed. In this case, the cash rate might need to be noticeably higher...
This could occur if households saved a significantly larger proportion of their incomes than currently assumed, perhaps because of earlier declines in real income and/or more...
Another scenario was if inflation proved less persistent than assumed, even without weaker-than-expected activity. This could occur, for instance, if rent inflation fell more...
The RBA remained unphased by central banks in major economies such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, as well as New Zealand, beginning rate cutting cycles...
Members agreed that, while it was important to take account of economic developments abroad, it was not necessary for the cash rate target to evolve in line with policy rates in...
The exchange rate could also adjust as interest rate differentials between Australia and other economies evolved...
It noted that financial market conditions had been calmer following the bout of extreme volatility around the time of the previous meeting. However, several of the contributing...
The next board meeting will be held over November 4th and 5th, with the decision to be announced half an hour before the Melbourne Cup is run.