RBA Governor Philip Lowe has given an address to Citi’s 8th Annual Australian & New Zealand Investment Conference. In the speech, Lowe discusses the reasons behind Australia’s low inflation and wages growth, the “complex” nature of the housing market, and explains the Bank’s interest rate settings:
Over the course of this year the Board has lowered the cash rate twice, in May and August. These reductions followed inflation outcomes early in the year that were lower than expected as well as an assessment that inflation was likely to remain quite low for some time, for the reasons that I have discussed. The easing in policy was not in response to concerns about economic growth. If anything, the growth outcomes over the past year, as measured by real GDP or the trend in unemployment, have been a bit better than expected.
