Business group lashes PM over deficit, tax scare campaign

Six months ago the business-backed Committee for the Economic Development of Australia presented the Turnbull government with what it said was a clear and practical plan to return the budget to surplus. There were 5 of them in fact, including different mixes of proposals such as better taxing superannuation contributions, halving the tax discount for capital gains, ending negative gearing, boosting taxes on luxury cars, alcohol and tobacco, and taxing the private health insurance rebate.

PM's man says Australian managers below par

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's most senior advisor has lashed out at Australian managers, saying they are failing to pursue opportunities and holding back national income.

What if the banks were forced to treat us like everyone else?

• COMMENT

Australia's bank chiefs could be forgiven for thinking they've survived the worst, says Peter Martin.

Why credit card interest rates are so high

• COMMENT

If the Reserve Bank's official cash rate is 1.5 per cent and you can borrow for a home at 4.4 per cent, why are credit rates as high as 21 per cent?

Coming soon: Instant transfers, phone numbers to replace BSBs

Mobile phone numbers and internet addresses will replace bank account numbers and money will be transferred near-instantly between institutions, according to the RBA.

Philip Lowe makes a good first impression

• ANALYSIS

First impressions count, and at his first public outing as the Reserve Bank governor, Philip Lowe was determined not to waste his.

Help me out, run up more debt, says RBA boss

Incoming Reserve Bank chief Philip Lowe has appealed to the Turnbull government to help him out with economic management by borrowing big for infrastructure, saying there's only so much further cuts in interest rates can do.

We are not 'inflation nutters', RBA's Lowe says

In his first public comments as new RBA chief, Philip Lowe says the RBA doesn't see its job as always keeping tabs on price growth and isn't too worried about the housing market.

Rates are low, so borrow and spend, says OECD

The OECD has pointed to a way out of what it calls a 'low-growth trap' where persistently weaker than expected economic growth weighs on expectations.