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The Economy

Australian Business Economists executive committee chairman Stephen Halmarick says economic growth is expected to be ...

Rates steady, economy weaker than RBA expects say experts

Australia's leading forecasters don't believe the Reserve Bank when it says the economy will grow 3 per cent this year and 3.25 per cent in 2018. The forecasts, in Friday's "Statement on Monetary Policy", are well above the median forecasts of 2.4 per cent and 2.8 per cent released by the Australian Business Economists executive committee on Tuesday.

RBA governor Philip Lowe delivered his speech to international investors in Sydney for the A50 Economic Forum.

Reserve Bank leaves rates on hold at 1.5%

The Reserve Bank of Australia has left its cash rate steady for the fifth consecutive board meeting as it prepares to release forecasts showing economic growth picking up and inflation climbing from 1.5 per cent to more than 2 per cent.

ANU Economic modeller Renee Fry-McKibbin got house prices pretty right.

The people who saw crazy 2016 coming

In most years there’s room for one forecaster of the year. But not in 2016. Hardly any of our panel picked the dive in Australia’s growth rate to 1.8 per cent or the dive in the cash rate to a record-low 1.5 per cent. Wage growth was lower than all but the most pessimistic of the forecasts, and house prices ended the year far higher than the highest.

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