OK, I’m sure you all know how it is. I opened my big mouth earlier to say a February rate cut was unlikely and now I’m going around finding articles that support my view. I believe its referred to as confirmation bias.
Article in the Australian Financial Review (May be gated – a news search on the headline might turn something up)
One concern for the central bank will be persistently sticky domestic or “non-tradeables” price pressures, which have been expanding at a disconcertingly high 3.9 per cent year-on-year pace. This is significantly above the mid-point of the RBA’s target 2 to 3 per cent inflation band.
In the December quarter domestic inflation printed at a healthy 0.7 per cent. In contrast, the prices of internationally traded good and services (or “tradeables” items) actually fell 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.
The average of the two preferred underlying inflation measures was 0.6 per cent,UBS’s top-ranked chief economist, Scott Haslem, is not convinced. “I expect the RBA to remain on hold in February and over the remainder of 2013 in recognition of improving domestic and global conditions and the significant policy easing it has already delivered.”
