Treasurer Chalmers admits record immigration has lifted inflation

Advertisement

Last week, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor, Michele Bullock, tied herself in knots in an attempt to play down the impact of record immigration levels on CPI inflation.

Historical NOM

Bullock admitted that record immigration had driven up housing inflation, but that this was partly offset by immigration lowering wage growth. Therefore, immigration hasn’t “added dramatically to inflation”:

New migrants add to demand and there’s been that element of it. They are certainly adding to pressure on the housing market. We know that. But on the other hand, they’ve added to labour supply”…

Advertisement

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:
Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe
About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.