Today
IMF warns Chalmers; Origin’s hydrogen blow; OpenAI’s $229b moment
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Interest rates
RBA should spell out rules on private meetings with market movers
The holding of confidential meetings can backfire when some people think that others are getting advantaged access to the central bank’s thinking.
- John Kehoe
- Exclusive
- Interest rates
RBA barred Westpac in third case of briefing leak
A suspected leak of an off-record briefing from Michele Bullock led to the bank being black-listed for 12 months.
- Mark Di Stefano, John Kehoe and Cecile Lefort
Barrenjoey expunges Philip Lowe’s original sin
The start-up bank’s taking the former RBA governor back to where the relationship began.
- Mark Di Stefano
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
RBA must make rules of engagement explicit
The central bank should keep on talking to bankers, market economists, and politicians. But it needs transparent rules to guide it when it does.
- The AFR View
Warm weather lifts spending on booze, gardening and camping gear
Retail sales may have finally turned a corner, as unseasonably warm weather pumped up demand for products normally bought in spring.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Don’t turn the RBA’s private talks into a fishbowl
Not allowing the central bank to test its thinking with people in financial markets will leave us with much less well-informed monetary policy decision-makers and, thus, worse monetary policy decisions.
- John Simon
- Exclusive
- Interest rates
RBA gives RBC Capital Markets private briefing, bars bank after leak
The incident is the second off-the-record discussion between the central bank and traders that has been made public. It was held after a February rate decision.
- Mark Di Stefano and John Kehoe
September
Lending laws locking out home buyers: Bendigo bank
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has rebuffed calls to ease mortgage lending laws after Coalition MPs and ANZ warned prospective home buyers were struggling to get finance.
- Michael Read and Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why the strong housing market is still a problem for the RBA
Booming credit demand from wealthier borrowers is more proof that housing is still humming along. That could crimp the RBA’s ability to cut.
- James Thomson
There’s a ‘very real’ chance of two rate cuts by Christmas
Momentum is critical and right now, Australia’s economy is at genuine risk of stalling. It’s no surprise then that the bond market has already priced in rate cuts.
- Angus Coote
Big super says cutting bank investments will hurt members
“Without funding from super funds, banks would be much more dependent on volatile foreign capital,” AustralianSuper chief strategy officer Paula Benson says.
- Hannah Wootton and Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- Opinion
RBA’s Bullock now has a bigger megaphone. But what should she say?
It’s possible the inflation problem is not about overheated demand, but rather the supply bottlenecks caused by lagging productivity.
- Michael Stutchbury
Philip Lowe is Barrenjoey’s new inside man
The former RBA governor has joined the board of the bank he once lashed out at, putting them in a penalty box.
- Mark Di Stefano
Super funds’ meteoric rise poses new risks to financial stability: RBA
The $3.9 trillion sector’s rapid growth and its large exposure to the banking sector could amplify shocks in the future, the central bank has warned.
- Hannah Wootton and Jonathan Shapiro
Private credit creeps past 10pc of business lending, RBA says
The rapid take-off in opaque private credit lending has prompted concerns in some pockets of the financial system.
- Lucas Baird
Ex-RBA governor Lowe joins Barrenjoey board
In February 2023 Philip Lowe found himself in hot water after accepting a lunch invite from Barrenjoey. This week he joined the start-up investment bank’s board.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Electricity bills to surge 47pc next year as government support ends
The Albanese government has hinted it could extend the federal government’s $300 electricity bill rebate to avoid a sharp rise in out-of-pocket energy costs.
- Updated
- Michael Read
RBA issues scathing assessment of ASX’s derivatives upgrade
In a lengthy review, the central bank has said the sharemarket operator was too slow in disclosing problems and suggests it was keeping regulators in the dark.
- James Eyers
Bond markets too punchy on RBA rate cuts, say investors
Fund managers say traders have overblown the comments from governor Michele Bullock and are siding with the central bank on the rate outlook.
- Cecile Lefort