Today
RBA on the right track with rates
Readers’ letters on the Reserve Bank keeping rates on hold; Labor’s PsiQuantum investment; HECS debt; and the Victorian budget.
- Opinion
- Competition
Consulting firm fixes are impractical and an overreach
More importantly, they are not necessary to correct a deficiency in the regulation of delinquent behaviour, says the former ACCC chairman.
- Graeme Samuel
- Opinion
- Federal budget
The government goes bold to poke the inflation bear
The Albanese government, after being cautious with its spending in 2022 and 2023, has decided to take risks this year. The greatest is that it brings the RBA off the bench.
- Chris Richardson
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
A rate rise was closer than you think
RBA insiders may be making the case for higher rates, as Michele Bullock walks the line between public opinion and the bank’s credibility.
- Warren Hogan
Coalition to oppose ‘sophisticated investor’ test overhaul
Labor is grappling with backlash from the start-up sector over calls to limit access to venture capital to investors worth more than $4.5 million.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Australia’s ‘dumb’ luck budget in one extraordinary chart
Treasurers have been extremely lucky to receive big tax revenue windfalls from the China-driven mining boom, but none have been as lucky as Jim Chalmers.
- John Kehoe
Yesterday
- Opinion
- The AFR View
An RBA tightening bias is called for
It’s hard not to interpret the governor’s press conference and the board’s statement as at least a mild tightening bias that will keep the cash rate where it is at least until near the end of 2024.
- The AFR View
‘We need to be alert and vigilant’: Michele Bullock
This is an edited and abridged transcript of a press conference held by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock.
Rising government spending is hurting the RBA’s inflation fight
The Australian economy is still operating at an unsustainably strong level despite a string of weak economic growth figures, due in part to public sector spending.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Why data-driven Bullock has her eye on the budget
RBA governor Michele Bullock says it’s too early to declare victory over inflation as she avoids the markets’ frenzied guessing game on interest rates.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
RBA is still betting on Goldilocks. Investors shouldn’t follow suit
With the ASX 200 back near record levels, investors are betting Michele Bullock is right on a soft landing. But with uncertainty high, a more all-weather approach looks sensible.
- Updated
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Victorian budget
Labor dodges difficult debt decisions
Treasurer Tim Pallas has not delivered the “horror budget” he prepared the ground for, nor a clear path back from the state’s crippling debt levels.
- Patrick Durkin
Qantas must atone for all old baggage
Readers’ letters on the Qantas settlement; franking credits for retirees; the Coalition push for nuclear power; and Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
‘Vigilant’ RBA puts home loan borrowers on notice
Governor Michele Bullock has issued a fresh warning to mortgage holders, two years after the Reserve Bank of Australia began raising interest rates.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
Petrol, strong jobs market stoking inflation: RBA
The central bank on Tuesday upgraded its near-term forecasts for headline inflation and pushed back the likelihood of interest rate relief until mid-2025.
- Ronald Mizen
- Updated
- Interest rates
Reserve Bank on high alert for rate rise
The RBA is “very alert” to the cost of stubbornly high inflation lingering in the economy, signalling interest rates will need to stay higher for longer.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Reforms rather than rate rises
Supply side deregulation to drive productivity is the other half of the policy armoury that should be deployed to help curb inflation and keep employment full.
- The Parrhesian
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Keeping coal but excluding gas is an irrational path to net zero
Including gas-generation in the back-up electricity mechanism will help avoid taxpayer funds being used for paradoxical cross-purposes.
- Steve Davies
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Ken Moelis on Trump, interest rates and Ozempic
The billionaire investment banker thinks Donald Trump has his nose in front in the US presidential race, and that could have ramifications for interest rates.
- James Thomson
This Month
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Reinstate HECS discount to recover debt
Readers’ letters on the reduction in indexation rates for HECS debt; the crackdown on the big four accountancy firms and lobby groups making submissions to the government ahead of the budget.
