Minutes Released

The Reserve Bank of Australia have released the minutes from their latest monetary policy meeting, noting that "members affirmed that the cash rate would be maintained at 10 basis points for as long as necessary. They continued to view a negative policy rate as extraordinarily unlikely. The Board will not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target range. For this to occur, wages growth would need to be materially higher than it is currently. This would require significant gains in employment and a return to a tight labour market. The Board does not expect these conditions to be met until 2024 at the earliest."

• "Members concurred that housing market conditions warranted close monitoring in the period ahead. In particular, it was important that lending standards remain sound in an environment of rising housing prices and low interest rates."
• "An important near-term issue was how households and businesses would adjust to the tapering of some fiscal support measures. Members noted that there may be a temporary pause in the pace of improvement in the labour market, as many firms had already adjusted the size of their workforces."