Comments from the RBA Governor:
Lowe spoke with the Australian Financial Review following yesterday's interest rate decision. Some highlights:
- Inflation at the end of 2023 at 2.5% "does not justify higher interest rates"
- We're prepared to be patient
- Immigration will probably reduce the pressure in hotspots
- if we can sustain an unemployment rate in the low-fours for a while, firms will have to compete more aggressively for labour, they'll be offering higher wages to attract workers
- We didn't discuss housing in any detail
- Addressing house prices by raising interest rates is not on our radar screen
- The solution to high home prices isn't raising interest rates
Australian unemployment:
