The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

UBS: RBA has "little interest in trimming the cash rate further from here"

From UBS:

In their post meeting press release, the RBA noted that there had already been a= “material easing in monetary policy over the past six months”, but that this was “appropriate” given “a more subdued international outlook”.

However, on balance, their other comments implied little interest in trimming the cash rate further from here, noting that Australia’s GDP growth had been “somewhat stronger than had been earlier indicated”, that labour market conditions had firmed “a little” and the unemployment rate “remains low”.

Further, while the RBA noted no change to their inflation outlook, they have dropped their statement last month that inflation was likely to be “in the lower part” of their 2-3% inflation range, ie, the recent improvement in GDP and jobs growth appears to have left them less confident about ongoing low inflation.