Coming up from the Reserve Bank of Australia at 10.40am Sydney time (1840 US ET, 2340 GMT):
- Appearance before the Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living, Sydney (Marion Kohler, Head of Economic Analysis Department, and Tom Rosewall, Deputy Head of Economic Analysis Department)
Official (quarterly) CPI in Australia is 7.8%
The most recent monthly CPI data is for December 2022, that's even higher at 8.4%
The RBA cash rate is at 3.1%.
Put those 3 together and you have a central bank that has dropped the ball on one of its only two jobs - holding inflation in check. The RBA target band (in a nutshell) is a CPI in the 2 to 3% band.
The RBA policy meeting is on February 7, a 25bp rate hike is expected. Anything less would be an RBA refusing to face reality, relying on its flawed assumptions and forecasts rather than the data. Which, sad to say, they have done consistently in the past. Its never too late to do your job though.
Kohler and Rosewall are being dropped in it today, answering questions on the 'Cost of Living' in front of a parliamentary committee.
