Michelle Bullock, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve of Australia, pointed out that bringing inflation back to target levels faces a series of obstacles, including high service prices and ongoing global shocks such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bullock said, "There are several things that suggest that reducing inflation will be difficult, including price pressures from delivery shops to barbershops, as well as ultra-low unemployment rates." Secondly, policymakers often overlook the negative supply shocks brought about by global events, but this time they find it difficult to do so. The problem is that we have been hit again and again, and the higher the inflation, the more people adjust their inflation thinking, even if it is a supply shock. Inflation may become more deeply ingrained, which is the challenge
This is Bullock's first public appearance since taking control of the Beauty Australia Federal Reserve, and she did not specifically discuss the prospects of monetary policy. Since May 2022, under the leadership of former Chairman Lowe, the Federal Reserve of Australia has raised interest rates by 4 percentage points to control inflation far above the 2% -3% target. Economists expect the Australian Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the last time as early as next month, raising the cash rate to 4.35%.
The market is paying attention to the monthly employment data released on Thursday and the third quarter inflation report released next week, looking for signs of what action the Federal Reserve of Australia will take. The central bank will also release its staff's latest quarterly economic forecast at its policy meeting on November 7th. Bullock said, "This is a challenging economic environment. What we are observing is that monetary policy is starting to take effect. We are seeing consumption slowing down
Australia's benchmark policy interest rate is lower than many other developed countries, although inflation is at least as high. The Australian Federal Reserve has raised interest rates by 4 percentage points in its current tightening actions, which is lower than the 5.25 percentage point increase in the United States and New Zealand. We are working hard to bring inflation down within a reasonable period of time while maintaining employment growth, rather than truly paralyzing the economy, "Bullock said
Australia's economic data is mixed. Enterprises are better able to cope with higher borrowing costs than households, and consumer sentiment is in an "extremely pessimistic" region. Over the past year, Australia's unemployment rate has hovered near its lowest level since the 1970s, and the labor market has been proven to be resilient. The residential real estate market has also unexpectedly rebounded strongly this year. Bullock said on Thursday that the real estate market "surprised me a bit".