RBA boss to face grilling on interest rates
RESERVE Bank boss Philip Lowe will face a barrage of questioning this week as parliamentarians turn up the heat on the under siege governor.
Dr Lowe is to appear before a senate estimates hearing on Wednesday, followed by a House committee on Friday, and is expected to be probed over the central bank’s plans to deliver further interest rate rises and the impact of nine consecutive hikes since May.
NAB economist Taylor Nugent said the bank’s “hawkish” statement of monetary policy, released last week, was sure to be on the agenda.
“With heightened press coverage of Lowe’s recent approach to communication that is sure to be a focus of questioning,” Mr Nugent said.
“Though we will be looking for comments around how the RBA is balancing the risks of subpar growth/recession versus getting inflation back to target and what the bar is to pausing the hike cycle.”
Dr Lowe has come under fire for saying as late as November 2021 that the bank was likely to hold the cash rate steady at record low rates.
Since May last year, it has rapidly raised rates from 0.1 per cent to 3.35 per cent in a bid to curb inflation.
He later apologised to Australians who might now regret taking out a home loan off the back of the RBA’s guidance.
Dr Lowe is also likely to be grilled over reports he gave a private briefing to big banks at a lunch hosted by investment bank Barrenjoey last week.
A report from the independent panel tasked with reviewing the central bank’s performance is set to hand back its report by March 31.