Yesterday
Chalmers has ‘damaged’ RBA independence
Jim Chalmers’ pressure on Reserve Bank governors Michele Bullock and Philip Lowe is “highly reprehensible” and has damaged the independence of the RBA, Roger Corbett and Angus Taylor say.
February
Time for a Bex and good lie down after RBA rate call
Amid the hyperbole and hysteria, I’m tempted to take governor Michele Bullock’s explanation of the finely balanced decision at face value.
Cash may be gone in 10 years: RBA’s Bullock
Governor Michele Bullock says cash may only be around for 10 years. But unlike Donald Trump, she sees no role for bitcoin in central banking or payments.
Bullock concedes RBA too slow to raise rates against inflation
The Reserve Bank governor said one of the reasons the board cut the cash rate this week was because it did not want to be too late to act again.
Victoria not performing well: Bullock
Michele Bullock says the Victorian economy is not performing as well as others; Peter Dutton backs $2.4 billion Whyalla rescue package but not “Whitlamesque” equity proposal. How the day unfolded.
Bullock admits RBA too slow; Domain rockets; Mansion smashes record
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
RBA’s Hauser hails ‘strong’ jobs market after employment surges 44k
RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser says there is no bad news in fresh figures showing employment is surging, cementing forecasts interest rates will not go down again soon.
Did the Reserve Bank cut interest rates too soon?
This week on The Fin podcast, Michael Stutchbury and Michael Read on whether RBA governor Michele Bullock is “one and done” and how this affects the timing of the election.
Inside the rate call that left RBA watchers puzzled
Governor Michele Bullock says the board weighed up both sides. But did the RBA deliver the first rate cut in more than four years because it should have, or because it had to?
Why the RBA rate cut was a head-scratcher
There was a gap in logic between the decision and the explanation. That is why the new communications arrangements can’t come soon enough.
Inflation will tell if RBA’s pre-election cut is the right call
We don’t doubt Bullock and the board have conducted themselves independently. Yet, the RBA’s credibility will finally depend on whether inflation continues to fall.
RBA will be less willing on rate cuts next time
Michele Bullock admits the RBA board had a lively debate on the case for cutting rates or holding firm against sustained political and community pressures.
RBA rate cut more about politics than economics
After roughing up the central bank, Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers should take whatever sliver of bacon the RBA will give financially squeezed voters.
In the mortgage belt, rate cut offers little comfort for Albanese
Chai Sharma, a 39-year-old tech worker paying off a $1 million mortgage on his first home in Sydney’s north-west, welcomed some rate cut relief but won’t launch into a spending spree anytime soon.
After one cut, Bullock rules out more pre-election rate relief
Even the fiercely independent inflation fighter Michele Bullock knew she would follow predecessor Phil Lowe in becoming Political and Public Enemy No. 1 had there been no rate cut this month.
Bullock and the board playing dice with Australia’s economy
The Australian public needs more than a good luck charm to finally tame inflation and our ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
The RBA’s uncomfortable cut should worry investors
What really matters to investors is how many rate cuts the RBA delivers in this easing cycle. This low-conviction cut shouldn’t get the market’s hopes up.
Breaking down Bullock: Reading between the lines on the rate cut
The RBA board, led by governor Michele Bullock, has cut the cash rate for the first time in more than four years. Here are the top takeaways from the statement.
No free lunch for the RBA board
Peter Dutton may not have realised, but business lunches aren’t a great look in a cost of living crisis. Especially if you’re the one deciding interest rates.
Surprise hold? RBA decision not as certain as markets think
While investors view the first post-pandemic cut as a near certainty, economists say low unemployment and resurgent spending could keep the cash rate on pause.