Economy
Australia central bank steps up warning of more rate hikes even as growth slumps
Australia’s central bank chief on Wednesday stepped up a warning of more rate hikes ahead to temper rising price pressures, even as risk of a steep economic downturn heightens with data showing GDP expanded at its weakest pace in 1-1/2 years last quarter.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) surprised markets by hiking in May and again this week, after pausing a near year-long tightening cycle in April, with governor Philip Lowe saying the assessment of inflation risks has changed in the past few months, including upside surprises on wages, housing prices and persistently high services inflation.
“We have been prepared to be patient… but our patience has a limit and (inflation) risks are starting to test that limit,” Lowe said in a speech at the Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Australia Summit in Sydney, a day after the central bank raised the benchmark cash rate a quarter point to an 11-year high of 4.1%.
“We couldn’t just sit idly and say well this is just all accidental. It’s all just noise.”
The Australian dollar hit a three-month high of $0.6690 and three-year government bond yields climbed 5 basis points to a five-month high of 3.702%, adding to the 12 basis points gained on Tuesday.
Lowe reiterated that further tightening may still be required to bring inflation to heel, with some analysts now expecting rates to peak at 4.6% while Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is picking 4.85% – well above a 4.35% peak projected by many banks.
The RBA has projected headline inflation – which is at about 7% now – to return to the top of the bank’s target of 2%-3% by mid-2025, a slower path than many other economies as Lowe wants to preserve strong gains in the labour market.
However, the RBA chief said that “the desire to preserve the gains in the labour market does not mean that the Board will tolerate higher inflation persisting,” raising the risk of a hard landing for the economy.
Gross domestic product (GDP) data earlier on Wednesday showed the Australian economy expanded 0.2% in the first quarter, its weakest pace since the third quarter 2021 when COVID lockdowns paralysed activity. That missed analysts’ forecast of 0.3% growth.
PRODUCTIVITY, PRICE CHALLENGE
Price pressures have led the RBA to raise its cash rate by 400 basis points since last May, the most aggressive tightening campaign in its modern history.
Markets now see rates are almost certain to reach 4.35% by September, and a hike could come as soon as next month.
That could further hamper drivers of economic growth.
In the last quarter, for instance, GDP growth was underpinned by business investment, which analysts expect to slow from here. Also, Australian consumers, squeezed by high costs of living and rising interest rates, have cut back on discretionary spending, making just a 0.1 percentage points contribution to first quarter GDP growth.
“On the face of it, that would suggest the RBA could well take its foot off the brake. However, we’re not convinced,” said Marcel Thieliant, a senior economist at Capital Economics.
“Dismal productivity gains raise the risk that the RBA will have to raise interest rates above the 4.35% peak we have pencilled in.”
A productivity measure showed GDP per hour worked fell 0.3%, while compensation of employees (COE), the broadest measure of economy-wide labour costs, increased 2.4% in the first quarter, after a rise of 2.0%.
On Wednesday, Lowe elaborated on four areas that the board would be paying close attention to in upcoming policy decisions – global economy, household spending, growth in unit labour costs and inflation expectations.
Services price inflation remained high, with rents rising quickly and electricity prices set to increase further, while unit labour costs are rising briskly without a pickup in productivity, and medium-term inflation expectations could start to shift higher, said Lowe.
“It is in Australia’s interest that we get on top of inflation and we do so before too long. The Board will do what is necessary to achieve that.»
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.
The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.
Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.
“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.
Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.
“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.
The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.
The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.
With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.
China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.
The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.
“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.
The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.
($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.
The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.
Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.
“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.
Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.
“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.
The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.
The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.
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