RBA Governor Philip Lowe told ABC News that the coronavirus pandemic was “going to be perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime event” and it “required a truly extraordinary response”. “I didn’t think in my term of governor, I’d be buying AUD 40 billion of government bonds, which we’ve done in the past few weeks and lending over AUD 100 billion to the banking system.”
Lowe also noted that there shouldn’t be concern on escalating government debt. “If ever there’s a time to borrow, now is it,” he said. “We shouldn’t be worried” about the debt. “We have the capacity to borrow, our interest rates are as low as they’ve ever been, the Australian government has a long record of responsible fiscal policy, so the budget accounts are in reasonable shape,” he added.
