RBA Governor Philip Lowe said today, “it is quite likely that we are going to be in this world of low interest rates for years, if not decades, because it is driven by structural factors.” For now, he added that RBA is not “obsessed” with getting inflation back to 2-3% target in a hurry.
Lowe repeated the central bank’s recent decision regarding balancing the risk of more monetary stimulus. “We’re conscious in our interest rate decisions that when we cut interest rates from cyclical perspectives it encourages people to borrow even more from an already high level of debt because of these structural reasons,” he said. “It’s a consideration in our decisions at the moment.”
Lowe also urged more from the government to help the economy. “We have not had any fiscal stimulus in Australia,” he said. “I would like to see both business and government use the opportunity to make investments. Australian governments and business can borrow at the lowest rates of since Australia became a federation.”
