RBA Stevens’ interview: key take-aways - ANZ

Outgoing RBA Governor Glenn Stevens gave an extensive media interview published overnight covering familiar ground.

Key Quotes:

"1) housing risks have diminished, but haven't gone away;

2) China is the main risk to the world economy, not Europe/Brexit;

3) the flexible inflation target has worked well;

4) inflation is low and growth looks ok, but a bit more growth won’t overheat things given spare capacity;

5) macroprudential policy has proven more effective than hoped at the margin, but may not work in the long term;

6) a higher AUD could complicate the recovery, but Australia is still attractive in a world searching for yield; and

7) the need for government reform and borrowing for the right infrastructure , where the AAA rating is important but the low cost of borrowing should be considered. There were no implications for near term monetary policy in his comments."