In a speech, RBA Governor Philip Lowe reiterated, “the latest data and forecasts do not warrant an increase in the cash rate in 2022.” Also, it’s “still plausible that the first increase in the cash rate will not be before 2024” even if underlying inflation hits 2.5%.
He said, the central scenario is that underlying inflation will reach “middle of the target by the end of 2023”. That would be the first time in nearly seven years that inflation is at the mid-point. And, “this, by itself, does not warrant an increase in the cash rate.”
For rate hike, RBA would like to see inflation “well within the 2–3 per cent range”, and, ” have a reasonable degree of confidence that it will not fall back again”. The “trajectory” is important, “with a slow drift up in underlying inflation having different policy implications to a sharp rise.”
Another important consideration will be developments in the labor market. wages growth is used as one of the “guideposts” and “it is likely that wages will need to be growing at 3 point something per cent to sustain inflation around the middle of the target band.”
