Michele Bullock coy on fuel excise as Chalmers mulls extension
Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed the RBA’s decision to hold rates, but questions immediately pivoted to the $2.5 billion cost of living relief package.
Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock won’t stand in the way of any extension to the fuel excise, just two weeks before the $2.5 billion relief package is set to lift.
But after confirming an expected interest rate hold on Tuesday, Bullock insisted that Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ decision won’t factor into the central bank’s thinking.
“I’m not going to cast a view on the fuel excise in terms of helpful or not,” Bullock said, striking her customary careful tone about fiscal policy.
“Certainly, when we were looking at subsidies … sometimes it brings down the headline inflation at the margin, that might be helpful for inflation expectations. But it reverses.
