RBA
Inflation holds steady but services prove stubborn
28 March
The final stretch to bring inflation back to target is proving challenging, based on fresh data, though that is broadly what the Reserve Bank expected. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ monthly inflation indicator held steady at 3.4 per cent...[Read More]
Swifties boost spending
14 March
The Australian economy got a leg up from Taylor Swift concerts but the much-anticipated visit was not enough to counter penny pinching elsewhere. Spending as tracked by Commonwealth Bank has been generally subdued and fell 0.3 per cent over the...[Read More]
Consumer price index steady at 3.4 per cent in January
28 February
Australia’s consumer price index held steady at 3.4 per cent in the 12 months to January, coming in below expectations. The index had been widely expected to rise by 3.6 per cent on an annual basis, when the data was released by the Australian...[Read More]
Jobs data on agenda as signs point to cooling inflation
18 January
All eyes will be on jobs data this week as Australians hope for more positive signs before the Reserve Bank’s first rate decision of the year. A slowdown in jobs growth is expected to show up in the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ December...[Read More]
Heated inflation figures put rate hike firmly in play
26 October
The latest inflation data has come in hotter than expected and may stir the Reserve Bank into a Melbourne Cup Day rate hike. Consumer prices as tracked by the Australian Bureau of Statistics rose 1.2 per cent over the three months to September, up...[Read More]
Inflation surprise as rate of price growth slows in May
28 June
A sharp fall in consumer prices will take pressure off the Reserve Bank, but persistent growth in rents and services will keep further rate hikes in play. The consumer price index sunk back to 5.6 per cent in the year to May, from 6.8 per cent in...[Read More]
Women gradually cracking the glass ceiling
25 January
Women are still woefully under-represented in top jobs but female leaders are becoming more common in Australia’s economic and financial institutions. Within Treasury, the government department responsible for economic policy, the federal budget...[Read More]
New building activity slows as rates bite
18 January
New home building starts have plummeted by more than 20 per cent in 12 months as labour and material shortages continue to weigh on the construction industry. New building activity fell further in the September quarter after softening moderately in...[Read More]
ACCC probe to ensure savers get fair deal
11 January
The consumer watchdog has been asked to look into interest rates for savers amid concern banks aren’t offering their customers a fair deal. Treasurer Jim Chalmers urged the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate the matter,...[Read More]
RBA hikes interest rates 25 basis points
3 November
The central bank has pulled the trigger on another 25 basis point rate rise and upgraded its peak inflation forecasts off the back of higher-than-expected inflation. The seventh hike in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy tightening cycle...[Read More]
RBA decision risks higher cash rate peak
6 October
The surprise slowdown in the pace of rate rises risks dragging out the rate hiking cycle and forcing the central bank to go even higher than expected to dampen demand. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s 0.25 percentage point lift is the sixth...[Read More]
Rate hikes could help home buyers: RBA
21 September
It takes around two years for elevated interest rates to dampen house prices enough to offset higher mortgage repayments, a senior RBA official says. Interest rate hikes diminish the amount buyers can borrow, which the Reserve Bank of...[Read More]
Consumer spending slowdown starts to show
14 September
Rate hikes and the soaring cost of living are finally starting to weigh on household spending. Non-essential outgoings decreased in August, according to CommBank’s household spending intentions index, with sectors such as travel,...[Read More]
RBA’s ‘past decisions’ under scrutiny
14 September
A parliamentary committee will grill the head of the Reserve Bank over the central bank’s past decisions. Australian mortgage holders have endured five rate rises as the RBA seeks to bring inflation under control, with the central bank’s...[Read More]
RBA flags end of big-hit cash rate rises
7 September
The central bank delivered another super-sized rate hike in September but economists expect future rate rises to be more restrained. The Reserve Bank of Australia hiked interest rates by 50 basis points on Tuesday, bringing the official cash rate to...[Read More]