IMF tells Bubble-o-Phil to slash rates

Monday, 13 February 2017

The IMF has urged the Reserve Bank to slash rates in a much more pessimistic analysis of the outlook than presented in the bank’s latest forecast, arguing the economy is at risk of getting caught in a Japanese-style low inflation and low growth trap.

The fund presents extraordinary modelling showing the Reserve Bank should halve its policy rate over the next six months to 0.75 per cent, which it says is the effective “lower bound” for nominal rates in Australia.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.