Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Lowe appearance before the House of Representatives' Standing Committee on Economics

Lowe opens with a lie immediately - "It's a real pleasure to be in Melbourne ..."

;-)

OK, lets get on with it:

  • Further rise in AUD would cause a slower pick up in inflation and slower progress in reducing employment
  • RBA Board has been prepared to be patient with policy
  • unemployment rate has been broadly stable has allowed us this patience
  • Balance needed between benefits of stimulus and medium term risk of rising levels of debt
  • Inflation likely to continue to move higher gradually
  • Increased competition in the retail sector, particularly from new entrants, works against inflation
  • RBA central scenario is for GDP to grow at an average of around 3% over the next couple of years

There will be a Q&A after his Lowe's speech. We'll get some unscripted comments then.

Here is the full text of his Opening Statement by Philip Lowe, Governor, to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Melbourne

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I said in the preview earlier he is likely to stay on track with much from RBA analysis contained in the bank's (just out last week) Statement on Monetary Policy (SoMP)