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Interest rates on hold but to stay higher for longer
The Reserve Bank of Australia says inflation will stay high for some time yet and it will keep a “vigilant” watch, while “not ruling anything in or out” on interest rates.
- 1 min ago
- Ronald Mizen
- Sponsored
- LDV
On the road to greener supply chains
Australia’s supply chains are not the most sustainable. But there are signs of change – including the electrification of transport.
Sponsored
by LDV
- Sponsored
- CBA
Australian business leads the way with sustainable financial solutions
With four out of five buildings projected to still be standing in 25 years, the imperative for green initiatives in real estate has never been clearer.
Sponsored
by CBA
AGL Energy upgrades earnings guidance again
The energy giant backed by software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes bumped the lower bound of its full-year guidance up by $80 million.
- Ben Potter
‘True energy impact’: Di Pilla defies gloom, appoints Gillard to $2b fund
The ASX-listed HMC Capital is banking on plenty of investor interest to defy a gloomy market outlook on the transition to clean energy for its latest vehicle.
- Ben Potter
- Exclusive
- Interest rates
Philip Lowe warns rates could rise again
The former RBA governor says with data surprising on the strong side getting back to a 2.5 per cent inflation level sustainably is not yet guaranteed.
- Patrick Durkin and John Kehoe
Opinion & Analysis
Reforms rather than rate rises
Supply side deregulation to drive productivity is the other half of the policy armoury that should be deployed to help curb inflation and keep employment full.
Columnist
Keeping coal but excluding gas is an irrational path to net zero
Including gas-generation in the back-up electricity mechanism will help avoid taxpayer funds being used for paradoxical cross-purposes.
Gas advocate
Ken Moelis on Trump, interest rates and Ozempic
The billionaire investment banker thinks Donald Trump has his nose in front in the US presidential race, and that could have ramifications for interest rates.
Columnist
Reinstate HECS discount to recover debt
Readers’ letters on the reduction in indexation rates for HECS debt; the crackdown on the big four accountancy firms and lobby groups making submissions to the government ahead of the budget.
Contributor
More From Today
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Reforms rather than rate rises
Supply side deregulation to drive productivity is the other half of the policy armoury that should be deployed to help curb inflation and keep employment full.
- 1 hr ago
- The Parrhesian
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Keeping coal but excluding gas is an irrational path to net zero
Including gas-generation in the back-up electricity mechanism will help avoid taxpayer funds being used for paradoxical cross-purposes.
- 1 hr ago
- Steve Davies
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Ken Moelis on Trump, interest rates and Ozempic
The billionaire investment banker thinks Donald Trump has his nose in front in the US presidential race, and that could have ramifications for interest rates.
- James Thomson
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Reinstate HECS discount to recover debt
Readers’ letters on the reduction in indexation rates for HECS debt; the crackdown on the big four accountancy firms and lobby groups making submissions to the government ahead of the budget.
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Interest rates are the only tool for managing inflation
Economists are looking for other ways of braking inflation. But the impact of interest rates on housing costs is still the most reliable means.
- Luke Hartigan and Stella Huangfu
- Opinion
- China relations
It’s economically naive to cut China out of direct investment
There may be more “like-minded” investors out there for Australia’s resources sector, but will they be as competitive and efficient as China has proven to be?
- James Laurenceson
- Opinion
- Indigenous justice
The great success story of Indigenous enterprise is missing
Indigenous businesses have proven robust and resilient against all the odds – that should be included in the Closing the Gap reports as well.
- Michelle Evans and Cain Polidano
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Moment of truth on inflation for Reserve Bank’s credibility
At stake here is whether the supposedly politically independent central bank can re-establish the low inflation foundations that supported three decades of unbroken economic growth until the interruption of the pandemic.
- The AFR View
Big government spending to widen budget deficits
Next week’s federal budget will be expansionary, not contractionary as some economists have called for, and will do less to contain inflation and interest rate pressures than Jim Chalmers’ previous surplus budgets.
- John Kehoe
- Exclusive
- Interest rates
RBA rate rise shock is being underestimated, history shows
It has raised interest rates almost every time in the last 25 years that it has faced the current high quarterly inflation figure immediately before a board meeting.
- John Kehoe
‘Made in Australia’ won’t trigger subsidy arms race, minister says
Industry subsidies used to be taboo in the trade world. But Tim Ayres, spruiking the government’s new industrial policy in Europe, says things have changed.
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Analysis
- Australian economy
‘Made in Australia’ risks higher interest rates and a poorer future
The old rules of economics still apply and the consequences of Albanese’s big gamble could be widely felt.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Make this the tipping point on domestic violence
A tighter judicial system, support for families forced to leave violent homes, long-term culture change, and more sophisticated use of data and prediction. Nothing can be left off the table in tackling terror at home.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- AUKUS
How to make sure JAUKUS is a success
It’s a no-brainer to bring Japanese technology into AUKUS pillar 2. But it needs to take account of Tokyo’s inexperience and concerns about high-level military co-operation.
- Shingo Yamagami and Paul Maley
High inflation may last another two years unless rates rise again
If Jim Chalmers does not use the budget to cool the economy, the RBA will have little chance of achieving its target without raising interest rates, say economists.
- Michael Read
Boosting investment needs more than taxpayer cash: Wesfarmers boss
Rob Scott said he was making major investments in value-added processing for lithium, but faced serious barriers from approvals processes.
- Carrie LaFrenz and Ronald Mizen
OECD upgrades global growth outlook as US outperforms
A faster-than-expected fall in inflation has set the stage for central banks to begin rate cuts in the second half of the year, boosting consumers’ incomes, according to the OECD.
- Leigh Thomas
OECD warns sticky inflation means rates higher for longer
The warning came as CEOs deliver upbeat assessment of the economy and financial markets push out expectations for rate cuts to May or June 2025, potentially after the next federal election.
- Ronald Mizen, James Eyers, Lucas Baird, Simon Evans, Tess Bennett and Carrie LaFrenz
Markets push interest rate cuts beyond the next election
Investors think the first rate cut may not be until May 2025 or June 2025, complicating Labor’s re-election bid amid red-hot voter concern over cost of living.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- University
No safe spaces for Jewish students at universities
Vice chancellors say what’s happening on campuses here is a million miles away from what’s happening in the US. That’s a statement of wishful thinking – not reality.
- John Roskam
