Reserve Bank of Australia minutes from the November monetary policy board meeting

  • Board judged steady policy consistent with inflation, growth goals
  • "Considerable uncertainty" on how quickly wages might pick up, add to inflation
  • Pass-through to inflation could be delayed by many factors including retail competition
  • Competitive pressures on retail margins and costs expected to last for some while
  • Board discussed global trend of wages growth lagging unemployment
  • Any further rise in A$ would slow expected pick-up in inflation, economy
  • Local labour market had been surprisingly strong, above-average jobs growth likely to continue
  • Rising participation meant jobless rate to fall only slightly to 5.25 pct by end 2019
  • RBA saw more upside risks to non-mining business investment, infrastructure spending a boost
  • RBA expected GDP growth of around 3 pct over next few years, subdued productivity
  • Noted importance of data and "evidence-based policymaking" in lifting productivity
  • Housing market had eased in all major cities, still relatively strong in Melbourne

Those Headlines via Reuters

There is nothing surprising in those headlines - looks like a steady as she goes policy still in place the RBA. The 'considerable uncertainty' comment, though, and then the 'pass-through' comment ... dovish ...

AUD/USD off a few tics on the release, but small only.

more to come

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Full text is here: Minutes of the November 2017 Monetary Policy Meeting of the Reserve Bank Board