Jim Chalmers and Michele Bullock are a united front again on rates. For now.
After weeks of tumult over the economy, neither the Treasurer nor the Reserve Bank governor were trading blows on Tuesday. But it will only get tougher from here.
Michele Bullock is now facing the biggest test of her career as her counterparts at the Fed and other developed world authorities start slashing interest rates while the Reserve Bank holds steady until Australian inflation finally subsides. But it appears that Treasurer Jim Chalmers has the RBA governor’s back — for now — making it plain to media on Tuesday that he would not second guess the decisions taken by the central bank.
“When it comes to the Reserve Bank and the government, we have the same objective when it comes to getting on top of inflation without ignoring the risks to growth in our economy,” Chalmers said at a press conference in Toowoomba, half an hour after the decision to keep rates on hold at 4.35% had been handed down to media.
“The government remains primarily focused on the fight against inflation … we have the same objective as the Reserve Bank when it comes to the fight against inflation,” he reiterated.
He said the monthly data due out tomorrow is likely to indicate that inflation has “halved” since Labor took government.
