50 year old pasta company Angelo’s says RBA’s interest rate cuts are not enough to spark spending in QLD economy.

A small Queensland pasta business says today’s cash rate cut by the RBA is not enough to stimulate spending in local economy.

INTEREST rates cuts are only part of the solution to boosting economic growth in Queensland according to small business.

Fortitude Valley’s Angelo’s Fresh Pasta Products has been supplying Brisbane restaurants and families with top quality continental products for the last 50 years, and believe yesterday’s cash rate cut is only “a piece of the puzzle”.

General Sales and Marketing Manager Donna Cazzolato said as a retailer and a wholesaler, they are able to gauge how much money is available in the local economy.

“At the moment things are very quiet,” she said.

Anita, Val and Michael Cazzolato at Angelo’s Pasta. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Ms Cazzolato said an indication of a limited supply of liquid cash in the market is when the amount of orders paid on credit increases at the family’s pasta factory.

Ms Cazzolato along with her brother Michael and sister Anita took over the business from their parents who started pasta manufacturing in 1968.

The second generation pasta makers believe greater fiscal injection through government grants and further tax breaks to small business would be needed alongside the RBA’s recent monetary policy manouvere to stop a stagnating economy.

“If the banks don’t pass that on [interest rates], then there is no impact on business,” Ms Cazzolato said.

“I don’t think an interest-rate cut is probably enough.”

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland welcomed the 25 basis point rate cut to 1.25 per cent but said it should have happened earlier in the cycle.

CCIQ Head of Industry, Dan Petrie, said the rate fall comes amidst a period of slowing activity across the broader economy.

“Lowering the cash rate to 1.25 per cent should have been done a lot sooner given the key indicators that have already highlighted poor credit growth, lower numbers of dwelling construction and anemic wages growth throughout the Australian economy,” he said.

“Today’s decision is not reflective of runaway inflation but more a response to supporting demand in the overall economy and the central bank pulling a monetary policy lever that will hopefully see the government come to the party as well.

“The Australian economy needs aggressive monetary and fiscal policy settings to arrest challenges around anemic levels of activity in the private sector,” Mr Petrie said.