Economic News

Describing what success looks like, RBA Governor Michele Bullock gave a destination that is as much psychological as statistical: inflation back at 2.5%, the point where "people are not worrying about it".

At 4.00 pm on 13 October 2026, one Australian dollar bought 0.6961 US dollars and the trade-weighted index stood at 64.7, two numbers that matter for the price of imported goods and, through them, for the inflation fight the RBA is waging.

The US dollar rate dominates the headlines, but the RBA's daily exchange rate table also tracks the Australian dollar against the New Zealand dollar, the Indian rupee, the South Korean won and several other currencies, and those figures say something too.

Australia's own financial system looks resilient, according to the RBA, but the minutes of its September meeting point to a set of global vulnerabilities, from thin risk premia to a build-up of AI-related debt, that it judges more material than the risks at home.

The RBA's August forecasts sketched an economy that slows through 2026 and then recovers only gradually, with GDP growth dipping to 1.4% before climbing back to 1.8% by the end of 2028, and the composition of that growth matters as much as the headline …

Australia's inflation problem has several sources at once, some imported from overseas and some made at home, and the RBA's September statement, minutes and media conference together sketch a map of where the pressure is coming from and which parts worry the Board most.

Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock offered no promise that September's rate rise would be the last, saying plainly that she could not know whether a 4.60% cash rate would be enough to bring inflation back to target.