Economic News

She named two challenges: an overseas oil shock and excess domestic demand relative to what the economy can sustainably supply.

Every time the cash rate rises, a familiar question follows: is there really no other way? With the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) having lifted its cash rate target four times in 2026, to 4.60 per cent, the question has particular force for households …

There is a difference between a household struggling with its mortgage and a banking system struggling with its mortgage book. The first is a personal hardship; the second is a risk to the whole economy. When Sarah Hunter, Assistant Governor (Economic) at the Reserve …

Mortgage holders have already absorbed four increases in the cash rate target in 2026. The most recent, on 29 September, took the target to 4.60 per cent, effective 30 September, and lifted the cumulative increase for the year to 100 basis points, or one …

Six words in Governor Michele Bullock's opening statement to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee may prove among the most quoted of the hearing: "monetary policy does not target housing prices."

When Sarah Hunter sat down with 60 Minutes interviewer Adam Hegarty, the conversation inevitably turned to property. In the interview, recorded on 21 October and broadcast on 25 October 2026, the Assistant Governor (Economic) said that higher interest rates are slowing housing, as intended, …

Monetary policy has a timing problem. A change to the cash rate is announced in an afternoon, but its effect on borrowing, spending, hiring and prices plays out over many months. That lag sat quietly in the middle of Governor Michele Bullock's opening statement …