RBA board did not consider rate cut, governor says<\/p>\n
Michele Bullock said the RBA did not consider cutting the cash rate this time round.<\/p>\n
We basically just talked about holding and the reasons to hold, and then discussed strategy moving out, depending on what way.<\/p>\n
What I think I highlighted in my opening statement \u2026 was that unemployment went up a little bit more than we expected, but so did inflation, so we\u2019re being a little bit cautious here.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.22 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Three-hour solar subsidy will help \u2018absolutely everyone\u2019, minister says<\/p>\n The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, was on ABC\u2019s Afternoon Briefing a short time ago speaking about the government\u2019s announcement to consumers will get access to three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day from July next year.<\/p>\n Asked if the free subsidy will bring down prices across the board, Bowen said:<\/p>\n Obviously it will help those Australians who are in a position to take it up. Think about someone working from home who is at home in the middle of the day and can put on the washing machine and dishwasher knowing it is free, or a retired pensioner couple, or people with apps who set their appliances to work in the middle of the day. But also the rest of us \u2026 moving the load to when power is the cheapest, that helps absolutely everyone.<\/p>\n It is only because of our transition that we are able to do this because there is so much solar in the system \u2026 That is a challenge to the operator in some regards, having so much energy in the middle of the day. But it is a massive opportunity if you can shift a percentage of stuff that would happen in the night-time.<\/p>\n Chris Bowen. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.30 EST<\/p>\n Better for RBA board to change its mind than \u2018stick to its guns\u2019, Bullock says<\/p>\n Bullock said the RBA is not \u201cwedded religiously to a particular path\u201d on interest rates:<\/p>\n What we are trying to do is very actively analyse the data as it comes through. We\u2019re not backward looking. We take the data that we\u2019ve got, we use that as a starting point, and then we attempt to forecast, using our models, using our judgment about what the outlook might look like. <\/p>\n I would have thought, quite frankly, that it would be worse for the bank to stick to its guns rather than change its mind in the face of new information.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.19 EST<\/p>\n Bullock: \u2018Anything\u2019s possible\u2019 as to where rates go in future<\/p>\n Asked if it\u2019s possible interest rates could go up or down in the future, Bullock said: \u201cAnything\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued:<\/p>\n All I would say is that I think we\u2019re at the right spot we need to be at the moment, and we can respond where the risks arise. <\/p>\n So if the risks turn out to be on the downside, which some people have suggested on the employment side, we\u2019re able to respond. Likewise, if the risks are on the upside, we\u2019re able to respond. But I think at the moment, we think we\u2019re where we need to be.<\/p>\n Michele Bullock. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.31 EST<\/p>\n RBA still chasing inflation target of 2.5%, Bullock says<\/p>\n Bullock said that the RBA is still targeting 2.5% as the official inflation target:<\/p>\n The board is very definitely targeting 2.5%. Just below three is not good enough for the board.<\/p>\n And I think again, when you take those inflation forecasts at face value with the one more interest rate cut in there, what that\u2019s telling you is that it\u2019s really an interesting question about whether there\u2019s many more rate cuts left to come.<\/p>\n The bank\u2019s updated forecasts, predicated on market bets of a cut by the end of 2026, show core and headline inflation were no longer expected to gradually return to 2.5%, the middle of the RBA\u2019s preferred range, but instead bump up then drop back to 2.6% by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.00 EST<\/p>\n Unemployment should stay \u2018reasonably stable\u2019: Bullock<\/p>\n Bullock said that the RBA expects that the unemployment rate will remain \u201creasonably stable from here on in\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked by a reporter if there was any risks of stagflation, she said:<\/p>\n I think, at the moment, we\u2019re still confident that inflation is going to come down, and we\u2019ve got employment at a pretty good place.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.50 EST<\/p>\n RBA board did not consider rate cut, governor says<\/p>\n Michele Bullock said the RBA did not consider cutting the cash rate this time round.<\/p>\n We basically just talked about holding and the reasons to hold, and then discussed strategy moving out, depending on what way.<\/p>\n What I think I highlighted in my opening statement \u2026 was that unemployment went up a little bit more than we expected, but so did inflation, so we\u2019re being a little bit cautious here.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.22 EST<\/p>\n RBA governor says \u2018temporary factors\u2019 behind higher inflation not expected to continue<\/p>\n The RBA governor, Michele Bullock, is speaking now about the bank\u2019s decision to leave the official interest rate on hold.<\/p>\n Bullock said:<\/p>\n Inflation in the September quarter was higher than we were expecting in our previous forecasts. <\/p>\n We think some of this was driven by temporary factors such as travel costs, council rates and fuel, and we don\u2019t expect some of these to continue. We are, however, taking signal from stronger price increases that may suggest more inflationary pressure in the economy than we thought before. <\/p>\n In particular, the cost of new dwellings and market services both increased by more than expected, and inflation in these components tends to be more persistent at the same time, the unemployment rate has gone up.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.38 EST<\/p>\n Question time ends<\/p>\n Tim Wilson tries again to get a question in, but Albanese stares him off and ends question time for the day.<\/p>\n Not before Jason Clare gave his best impression of a race commentator during a dixer on the 20% Hecs debt discount.<\/p>\n The race that stops the nation has been run and won and there are a few lucky winners across the country. But in the next few weeks there won\u2019t just be a few winners, there\u2019ll be millions of them. And that\u2019s \u2018cause we\u2019re cutting student debt by 20%.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.21 EST<\/p>\n Clare O\u2019Neil pushes back on claim regional areas not getting fair share of housing funding<\/p>\n Andrew Gee is up again with a second question, but not before Tim Wilson tries to get in with one of his own at the dispatch box. But Milton Dick tells him to sit down.<\/p>\n Gee tells the housing minister his electorate and other country communities are not getting their fair share of national housing funding.<\/p>\n The housing minister, Clare O\u2019Neil, says the housing programs have an \u201cimportant regional dimension\u201d.<\/p>\n The home ownership statistics in your part of the world are looking pretty good, I think there\u2019s about 1,300 people in the member for Calare\u2019s electorate who have got into first home ownership with our backing.<\/p>\n O\u2019Neil says she\u2019d be \u201cpleased\u201d to talk to Gee and his community further.<\/p>\n