RBA March meeting minutes - Says Russia's war on Ukraine a major new source of uncertainty

Headlines via Reuters:

• war in Ukraine was a major new source of uncertainty
• the board will not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target band
• while inflation Inflation Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Inflation is defined as a quantitative measure of the rate in which the average price level of goods and services in an economy or country increases over a period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a given currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods.In terms of assessing the strength or currencies, and by extension foreign exchange, inflation or measures of it are extremely influential. Inflation stems from the overall creation of money. This money is m Read this Term had picked up, members agreed it was too early to conclude that it was sustainably within the target band
• Australian economy remained resilient and spending was expected to pick up further after the omicron outbreak.
• the board is prepared to be patient as it monitors how the various factors affecting inflation in Australia evolve
• war in Ukraine and the associated increase in energy prices had created additional uncertainty about the inflation outlook.
• there were uncertainties about how persistent pick-up in inflation would be given recent developments in global energy markets and ongoing supply-side problems

Since the meeting we've had Governor Lowe speak... these minutes not adding anything much new.

• RBA Governor Lowe spoke earlier today ... edging more hawkish (or at least less dovish)
• RBA Governor Lowe says its plausible the cash rate will rise later this year
• RBA Gov. Lowe says not clear high CPI will be sustained, still need wage growth above 3%

Full text is here:

Minutes of the March 2022 Monetary Policy Meeting of the Reserve Bank Board

At the same time we have had data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Australia - Q4 2021 House Price Index

4.7% q/q and 53.7% y/y

• priors 5% q/q and 21.7% y/y

We get monthly data on house prices so this is very, very stale.