War of words
RBA insiders say the past week's public tensions over comments by Jim Chalmers have been 'frustrating'. And they may make the already tough job of reforming the central bank even harder.
It's now clear that Jim Chalmers’ choice of words in saying high interest rates are "smashing the economy" will continue to haunt him.
Rather than spending this morning’s press conference talking about the upcoming historic RBA reforms, the treasurer was left responding to the opposition’s decision to back away from bipartisanship on the change.
Apparently the change of heart is due in part to opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor’s concerns about the government’s commitment to the central bank’s independence. But many economists believe the reforms will make the central bank more independent, rather than less.
It’s about to get even more tense for staff at both the Reserve Bank’s headquarters and Chalmers’ office. While RBA insiders were largely dismissive of Chalmers seeking to shift blame on to them for most of last week, Friday marked a turning point.
