Today
Why rate cuts are at risk from Labor’s $3.5b cost of living relief
More handouts to secure votes in next year’s election will derail any chance of an early rate cut, investors warn.
- Updated
- Cecile Lefort
Yesterday
RBA hoses down early-2025 rate cut hopes
The Reserve Bank board has signalled that a rate cut in either February or April is highly unlikely, saying it needs to see more than one quarter of inflation data.
- Updated
- Michael Read
This Month
The amount you need to put down for a home deposit is rising fast
Owner-occupiers looking to upgrade now need to stump up a $300,000 deposit, with high interest rates forcing some owners to sell and young people to seek help from mum and dad.
- Michael Read
Inside the two weeks from hell for the country’s biggest supermarkets
This week, Woolworths chief executive Amanda Bardwell and Coles’ Leah Weckert will have a chance to tell their side of the story in hearings run by the ACCC.
- Tom McIlroy and Carrie LaFrenz
Cash to stay king for essential products
The federal government will also call time on the use of cheques in the Australian economy, limiting their use from 2028.
- Tom McIlroy
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Economists give up on rate cuts. Investors and borrowers can too
Impossibly wedged between predicting the future and giving traders something to discuss, nobody wants to hear from the experts that the RBA is standing still.
- Anthony Macdonald
Future Fund bets on US economy, warns of inflation return
CEO Raphael Arndt says the US economy is an attractive investment but Donald Trump’s policies and geopolitical risks could see the return of inflation.
- Cecile Lefort
Albanese increasingly likely to face voters without a rate cut
NAB and RBC Capital Markets now expect the RBA to leave the cash rate on hold until May, after the latest practical date for an election.
- Updated
- Michael Read
Interest rates on hold until 2026 not ‘inconceivable’
Expectations of inflationary tariffs from president-elect Donald Trump could result in no interest rate relief in Australia next year, warn analysts.
- Updated
- Cecile Lefort
Consumer confidence hits 2½-year high as rate rise fears ease
Despite the lift in sentiment, households may need to wait another seven months before receiving mortgage relief.
- Michael Read
Spoiler alert: interest rate cuts will be small and slow
What property investors need to know is that interest rate increases often come in clusters, but drops tend to be far more spread out.
- Jarrod McCabe
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Albanese and Chalmers make the same error as Biden and Harris
The Democrats’ decision to put jobs ahead of inflation has cost them dearly. But Labor has been doing the same thing.
- Steven Hamilton
UK pension fund crisis shows super risk to markets in Australia: RBA
It is the third time in as many months that Australia’s mammoth superannuation sector has been labelled a risk to the financial system.
- Hannah Wootton
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Australia must learn the right lessons from US election
Inflation cut across all other issues for US voters, regardless of race, gender and age. What should that be telling us?
- The AFR View
- Analysis
- US Votes 2024
The economy and markets will boom under Trump. Or will they?
If the president-elect implements half of what he says he will, the global economy is in for a wild ride.
- John Kehoe
Public servant wages rise to $232b at fastest pace in 15 years
UBS chief economist George Tharenou said public sector wages had more than doubled since 2008-09, keeping upward pressure on interest rates.
- Michael Read
ASIC commissioners confirm Qantas chairman’s lounge access
ASIC chairman Joe Longo and deputy chairwoman Sarah Court have confirmed they have access to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge; the regulator has also confirmed a MinRes probe. Here’s how the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
China's response to the Trump win a big question for RBA
Greens Senator Nick McKim questions RBA governor Michele Bullock and assistant governor Christopher Kent on the meaning of a Trump win at Senate Estimates.
- Updated
PM calls Trump; Chemist Warehouse to merge; NAB arrears surge
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Rate stance risks an avoidable recession
Readers’ letters on the Reserve Bank’s inflation fight, Anthony Albanese’s new home and flight upgrades, the path ahead for MinRes after Chris Ellison’s exit and the way women should dress for work.