Reserve Bank of Australia minutes from the November monetary policy board meeting
- Board judged steady policy consistent with inflation, growth goals
- "Considerable uncertainty" on how quickly wages might pick up, add to inflation
- Pass-through to inflation could be delayed by many factors including retail competition
- Competitive pressures on retail margins and costs expected to last for some while
- Board discussed global trend of wages growth lagging unemployment
- Any further rise in A$ would slow expected pick-up in inflation, economy
- Local labour market had been surprisingly strong, above-average jobs growth likely to continue
- Rising participation meant jobless rate to fall only slightly to 5.25 pct by end 2019
- RBA saw more upside risks to non-mining business investment, infrastructure spending a boost
- RBA expected GDP growth of around 3 pct over next few years, subdued productivity
- Noted importance of data and "evidence-based policymaking" in lifting productivity
- Housing market had eased in all major cities, still relatively strong in Melbourne
Those Headlines via Reuters
There is nothing surprising in those headlines - looks like a steady as she goes policy still in place the RBA. The 'considerable uncertainty' comment, though, and then the 'pass-through' comment ... dovish ...
AUD/USD off a few tics on the release, but small only.
more to come
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Full text is here: Minutes of the November 2017 Monetary Policy Meeting of the Reserve Bank Board
