MNI BRIEF: Aust Treasurer To Receive RBA Review on March 31

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he will receive a report from the Reserve Bank of Australia review panel on March 31 and will respond to it before the May Budget, he said on Sunday.

"I will respond in some fashion between then and the Budget. I don't know the magnitude of all the recommendations, but I'll provide a view on it and I'll release it before the Budget. When it comes to Governor Lowe's appointment, we will consider that closer to the middle of the year but obviously the recommendations of the review will be part of that," Chalmers said on ABC Insiders.

The Treasurer was pressed on a briefing given by RBA governor Philip Lowe to rates traders hosted by investment bank Barrenjoey last Thursday. The meeting coincided with a rise in bond yields.

"Look, the Governor operates independently from the government. I don't clear his commitments that he makes in his diary, I suspect that governors before Governor Lowe have met with different players in the market. If people have got particular concerns, they've got an opportunity to raise them directly with Governor Lowe and he can explain," Chalmers said.

Chalmers also revealed that he had discussed with the review panel how the RBA "communicate their decisions and the context behind their decisions is one of the key focuses of that."