The Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy board meet the first Tuesday of each month except in January.
- January is a break, the meetings resume in February.
- February 4 is the next meeting date.
The "Watch out for a February rate cut though" in the headline is me thinking out loud.
My reasoning being related to the massive fires ravaging the eastern seaboard of the country (not forgetting those elsewhere though) and the slow, slow response of the Federal government. It finally came yesterday, slow but hey at least PM Morrison has finally done something useful:
- Australian PM Morrison says budget surplus is not a focus during bushfire recovery
- Australian PM Morrison says committing AUD2bn over two years for fire recovery
The last time we had a major disaster like this was in 2011 with flooding in Queensland (late 2010 and into 2011). Back then the RBA was in tightening mode (back in the day when central banks used to swing both ways) and the floods were a factor in the RBA delaying further hikes (which never happened, the next move in rates was lower, to 4.5% for the cash rate, in November 2011 and look where we are now!).
The damage caused by the bushfires may prompt a February rate cut from the RBA.
And, further down the road?
