CBA CEO Matt Comyn: Inflation fight is mission critical

Matt Comyn says interest rates may fall faster than the market expects and it is critical for the long-term health of the economy and the country that inflation is brought under control.

Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn.

CEO SURVEY 2025: FULL COVERAGE

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn said it is critical for the long-term health of the economy that inflation is brought under control, while tipping that interest rates may fall faster than the market expects.

Here is what Mr Comyn told The Australian’s exclusive annual CEO survey:

Economy

How would you rate the momentum of the Australian economy as we head into 2025? Official forecasts have Australia trimming interest rates from the first half of calendar 2025, is that consistent with your view? What are you seeing around inflation in your own business?

We have seen a lower growth, higher cost environment over the past couple of years which we know is impacting households and businesses. It is critical for the long-term health of the economy and the country that we bring inflation under control. We have seen some moderation of inflationary pressures, however underlying inflation remains above the Reserve Bank’s target band. The market is currently pricing in one rate cut by May next year, and a further two rate cuts by the end of 2025. Our economics team believe that rates may fall faster than the market expects.

Outlook

What excites you heading into 2025? Are you likely to increase, hold steady, or trim your investment spend?

There will be many opportunities during the next phase of technological developments including generative AI offers both us and the country to help improve the lives of Australians. Technology can help make our lives easier, and our digital interactions safer. That’s why we have been investing up to $2bn a year for several years now, with half of that going to technology investment. I don’t see that changing as we are seeing direct benefits for our customers.

Reform

As we move into an election year, in your mind, what’s the single biggest lever that can/should be used to lift Australia’s competitiveness or productivity? This could be across any area from labour market, tax reform, training or other areas to encourage investment.

We need to nurture creativity and entrepreneurialism in society and the economy. This includes embracing new technology and find ways to do things better – for example using data more effectively across the economy to reduce duplicated activities in different businesses.

Another area is ensuring there is good mobility of capital and labour. A big part of our role as a bank is helping to effectively allocate capital across the economy and also accessing offshore capital to help Australia grow. Ultimately though, it will be the entrepreneurialism of Australian small businesses that will continue to drive productivity.

Geopolitics

Will a Donald Trump presidency have a potential impact on your business or sector (tariffs or streamlined regulation)? Does geopolitics drive a bigger part of your decision-making?

We will be watching carefully over the coming months and first years of the new administration when it comes to global-related regulation of certain parts of the financial services sector. We are also mindful of other aspects of US government decision-making that may impact inflation, market activity and sentiment, and the cost of wholesale funding.

People

Has your organisation’s approach to flexible working – including working from home – evolved during the year. Is this likely to change further into 2025?

We believe we have struck the right balance in requiring our people, particularly those based in our corporate offices, to work in the office for at least half the time of their working month. We’ve now had 18 months of seeing the benefits of that through greater collaboration, closer team-working, better mentoring and more sharing of ideas. We are continuing to see increasing numbers of our people in the office. We don’t anticipate any significant alteration to our current policy.

Technology

Where is your organisation along the AI journey – is it in the developmental stage, or are you now using the technology at scale across your business? If so, are benefits matching the promise?

We’ve been using and developing various forms of AI since 2016. Gen AI offers many opportunities, and we have been gradually introducing new innovations, primarily aimed at improving our customers’ experience. For example, we’re seeing real benefits in speeding up and improving loan application process, both in home loans and business loans. We’re also helping to resolve customer complaints faster and to higher quality. Importantly, we’re also utilising artificial intelligence to reduce scams losses and protect our customers in better ways from different aspects of financial crime. Those benefits are just the start, and we will see even greater gains in the months and years to come.