Economists say the Reserve Bank's strategy of holding interest rates is providing relief to some, and angst to others. Governor Michele Bullock has warned cuts aren't on the table in the near future, with inflation still too high. Finance minister Katy Gallagher says providing cost of living relief to Australians is a delicate balancing act.
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00:00I think the fact that rates remained on hold and have done so for months now is welcome
00:06news with all the speculation about whether rates were going up, particularly in the previous
00:12week. So I think households probably had a sigh of relief because we know cost of living
00:18is a major issue across all households. So the fact that they remained on hold is welcome.
00:25We look carefully at what the Governor is saying. Obviously the Treasurer works pretty
00:29closely and communicates closely with her. So I think the messages she gave yesterday
00:35are the Bank's assessment on the economy and the job the Government's got to do is to make
00:41sure that we're not adding to any pressure and that the spending that we're doing, the
00:46measures that we're doing, are putting downward pressure on inflation as it comes down. And
00:50it's moderated significantly, but the last bit to get it back into the target range doesn't
00:57necessarily happen in a straight line.