Reserve Bank of Australia September meeting minutes
- Need to balance risks of high household debt against low inflation
- Rise in A$ driven by fall in US$, weighing on domestic growth and inflation
- Further rise in A$ would result in slower pick-up in growth, inflation
- Economy had grown below trend in 2016/17, recent data mostly positive
- RBA meeting started with discussion on labour market, which had continued to improve
- Leading indicators suggested jobs pick up was likely to continue
- Jobs growth to support household incomes and spending, but high debt a risk
- Labour market still has spare capacity, wage growth to remain low for some time
- Clear signs housing market in Sydney had eased, less so in Melbourne
- Outlook for non-mining investment had improved, public infrastructure spending strong
- RBA discussed China impact on iron ore, expected prices to fall as new supply came on stream
- Growth in China had been stronger than expected, high debt still a threat
Headlines via Reuters
Well, that's pretty much more of the same from the RBA, minor nuances the only change in tone. AUD response ... muted.
Full text: Minutes of the September 2017 Monetary Policy Meeting of the Reserve Bank Board
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At the same time as the minutes were published the Australian Bureau of Statistics sent out its Q2 House Price Index data
+1.9% q/q, a beat on expected +1.3%
- prior +2.2%
And +10.2% y/y, and a beat again on the expected +9.2% y/y
- prior +10.2%
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Oh, and there is plenty more to come the Reserve Bank of Australia this week - plenty of focus on Lowe speaking but do not ignore Luci Ellis speaking - she is a smart cookie:
- Speech by Luci Ellis, Assistant Governor (Economic), at the Australian Business Economists (ABE) Lunchtime Briefing, Sydney, 20 September 2017, 1.05 pm AEST (0305GMT)
- Speech by Philip Lowe, Governor - The Next Chapter - at the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia Business 21 September 2017, 3.10 pm AEST (0510GMT)
