Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Lowe is speaking in parliament.
Earlier:
Lowe answering questions now.
- not finished on rates yet
- cannot let inflation remain high, would be too costly
- trimmed mean CPI gain of 6.9% vs. RBA's 6.5% forecast is a significant difference
- conditions for business are significantly above-average
- unemployment is low
- the pool of savings is substantial
- labour market remains extremely tight
- due to seasonality, the last two months' jobs are difficult to assess
- firms suggest they will grant large pay raises this year rather than next
- hearing that salary growth has accelerated
- good number of firms are offering 5% raises this year
Comments from other RBA officials
Ellis:
- labour market is a little less tight than a few months ago
- statistics could reveal an additional 50,000-70,000 jobs in the next month or so
- exceptionally large number of people are awaiting new jobs
- in January, more people than usual took leave
--
Jones:
- relatively small number of loans are now in negative equity
- some resiliency in household balance sheets
- 10% of mortgagees have no extra cash after payments and costs
more to come
