economy
Budget spending stokes fears of further rate rise pain
13 May
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is defending an extra $18 billion in government spending next financial year despite warnings it will make the Reserve Bank’s fight against inflation harder. The federal budget on Tuesday revealed government spending will...[Read More]
Labor tucks away $77b war chest for further tax cuts
13 May
Tax changes in the budget give the government scope to direct more relief to workers in future, raising the prospect of a 2028 pre-election sweetener. While higher taxes on assets will be returned to workers via tax cuts in the short term, Treasury...[Read More]
Electric car owners dodge road charge but pay more tax
13 May
Australia’s electric car drivers may escape a road-user charge for another year but will pay more tax under measures revealed in the federal budget. The changes are part of several reforms to support low-emission vehicles in the budget, including...[Read More]
Canberra embraces AI data crunch for medicines to tax
13 May
Artificial intelligence will be deployed across the federal government for everything from evaluating medicines to identifying tax fraud in a bid to boost the nation’s productivity. A long list of AI trials were named in the federal budget on...[Read More]
‘These geniuses’: PM’s generational housing gamble
13 May
Anthony Albanese is playing “gutsy” politics with sweeping changes to tax concessions for landlords but risks offending established investors who may not have expected the overhaul, an expert in politics says. From July 2027, negative gearing...[Read More]
Treasurer hoses down talk of big budget handouts
6 May
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has downplayed the Reserve Bank governor’s warnings about public spending adding to inflation, insisting large stimulus packages won’t be a feature of the federal budget. After lifting interest rates for the third...[Read More]
Inflation, growth, rates all hinge on end to conflict
6 May
The crisis in the Middle East fanned the flames of already buoyant inflation in Australia and could lead to more interest rate pain if it isn’t resolved, the central bank has warned. The Reserve Bank of Australia released fresh quarterly economic...[Read More]
Oil crisis not over: warnings of diesel over $4 a litre
6 May
Diesel prices could surge above $4 a litre in coming months under a scenario modelled by economists at National Australia Bank, potentially spelling a much more severe economic fallout than forecast by the Reserve Bank. Fears of service stations...[Read More]
Worse to come as oil crisis adds fuel to rate-pain fire
29 April
Australia’s headline inflation rate has climbed to a two-and-a-half year high due to the Iran war but Treasurer Jim Chalmers warns the worst is yet to come. The jump in the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ annual consumer price index, to 4.6 per...[Read More]
Warning for borrowers as RBA frets over its credibility
22 April
Australia could be heading back to the runaway inflation of the 1970s and 1980s if people lose faith in the Reserve Bank, a top central bank official says. Speaking at a panel of economists during the International Monetary Fund spring meetings in...[Read More]
Oliver’s Insights – Nine key longer term consequences of the US/Israeli war with Iran
15 April
Key points Uncertainty remains high over the US/Iran War with a ceasefire declared but no agreement in talks so far. Tensions continue to remain high and oil flows remain restricted, with Trump announcing his own blockade on the Strait of...[Read More]
RBA’s stagflation nightmare: prices up, confidence down
15 April
The Reserve Bank board will have to earn its money to navigate Australia through a “nightmare” stagflation shock, a top central bank official says as confidence tanks and prices soar. The RBA was still “feeling its way” through the energy...[Read More]
The RBA conflict that could decide its next rates call
1 April
A conflict at the heart of the Reserve Bank’s mandate could determine the outcome of its next interest rates decision. Minutes from the central bank’s March meeting published on Tuesday revealed a split between the five members who voted for a...[Read More]
Calm before storm: RBA braces for spikes and hikes
25 March
A slight easing in Australia’s headline inflation rate before the Iran war will do little to ease the Reserve Bank’s fears, as economists expect price growth to bounce back with a vengeance in March. Consumer prices rose 3.7 per cent in the 12...[Read More]
Three more rate hikes tipped as prices begin to rise
25 March
Mortgage holders could face as many as three interest rate hikes by Christmas, according to money markets, as concerns mount over the Iran war’s impact on inflation. Rates traders upped their predictions on Friday, pricing in almost 75 more basis...[Read More]