The statement was out earlier and Bullock will speak soon:
At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 3.60 per cent.
While inflation has fallen substantially since its peak in 2022, it has picked up more
recently. The Board’s judgement is that some of the recent increase in underlying
inflation
was due to temporary factors and there is uncertainty about how much signal to take from
the
monthly CPI data given it is a new data series. Nevertheless, the data do suggest some
signs
of a more broadly based pick-up in inflation, part of which may be persistent and will
bear
close monitoring.
Economic activity continues to recover. Growth in private demand has strengthened, driven
by
both consumption and investment. Activity and prices in the housing market are also
continuing to pick up. Financial conditions have eased since the beginning of the year,
credit is readily available to both households and businesses and the effects of earlier
interest rate reductions are yet to flow through fully to demand, prices and wages. On
the
other hand, money market interest rates and government bond yields have risen more
recently.
Various indicators suggest that labour market conditions remain a little tight. The
unemployment rate has risen gradually over the past year and employment growth has
slowed.
However, measures of labour underutilisation remain at low rates, surveyed measures of
capacity utilisation are above their long-run average and business surveys and liaison
continue to suggest that a significant share of firms are experiencing difficulty
sourcing
labour. Wages growth, as measured by the Wage Price Index, has eased from its peak but
broader measures of wages continue to show strong growth and growth in unit labour costs
remains high.
There are uncertainties about the outlook for domestic economic activity and inflation
and
the extent to which monetary policy remains restrictive. On the domestic side, the
pick-up
in momentum has been stronger than anticipated, particularly in the private sector. If
this
continues, it is likely to add to capacity pressures. Uncertainty in the global economy
remains significant but so far there has been minimal impact on overall growth and trade
in
Australia’s major trading partners.
Decision
The recent data suggest the risks to inflation have tilted to the upside, but it will
take a
little longer to assess the persistence of inflationary pressures. Private demand is
recovering. Labour market conditions still appear a little tight but further modest
easing
is expected. The Board therefore judged that it was appropriate to remain cautious,
updating
its view of the outlook as the data evolve.
The Board will be attentive to the data and the evolving assessment of the outlook and
risks
to guide its decisions. In doing so, it will pay close attention to developments in the
global economy and financial markets, trends in domestic demand, and the outlook for
inflation and the labour market
