Governor Lowe To Make A Couple Of Appearances Before Christmas

Ahead of Christmas, RBA Governor Lowe will speak on 9 December, although that particular appearance will be to the Payments Summit with a topic of “Payments: the Future?,” which limits the scope for comments on monetary policy. Lowe’s 16 December address, a keynote at the CPA Australia Riverina Business Conference, may provide more room for monetary policy related communique. Note that the 16 December appearance will come hot on the heels of the final FOMC decision of ’21 (which takes place on 15 December and could see the U.S. central bank formally declare a faster tapering pace). This may result in some guidance from Lowe re: the RBA’s own tapering plan. We already know the Bank will reconsider its current rate of purchases at the February meeting, with consensus looking for a cut to A$2bn/week from the current A$4bn/week (some have highlighted the risk that a faster Fed tapering cycle could result in the cessation of the RBA’s bond purchases in February, although that seems a little aggressive to us at present).