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The Reserve Bank cut the official interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.1 per cent in February.

EconomyCommentsRate cut relief lifts consumer confidence to 3-year high

Westpac said the RBA’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time since late 2020, and further easing in cost of living pressures have provided a ‘clear lift’ in consumer sentiment.

Cheyanne Enciso

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor. Economy must be strengthened if Australia is to successfully navigate Trump-led US instability.

Federal election 2025CommentsSurviving erratic Trump key challenge for next government

Australia’s next Federal Government will need to make the economy as ‘strong as it can be’ in a bid to survive US President Donald Trump and his erratic polices, according a top economist.

Cheyanne Enciso

Black Friday at Karrinyup Shopping Centre.

EconomyConsumer sentiment at 3-year high on rate cut relief

Australia’s consumer confidence picked up in March as inflation pressures eased and the Reserve Bank reduced interest rates for the first time in four years. 

Frances Du

All eyes will be on the government that emerges from next week’s poll to swing into action a strategy to finally kick-start the economic diversification everyone in WA has wanted for so long.

opinion
opinion
EconomyCommentsPremium
opinion
Business must not rely on governments for economic success

The State election — and a looming Federal poll in coming weeks — will serve as the latest inflection point for a business community trying to plot the road ahead to take it through a challenging time.

Gary Martin

Participants of the latest CEO Voice roundtable at the Australian Institute of Management WA.

WA election 2025CommentsPremiumBusiness, community groups share WA election wish-list

CEO VOICE: Public transport, housing, the need for skilled labour, our urban sprawl, local government burdens and opportunities for Indigenous workers were among the topics up for debate.

Neale Prior

Michele Bullock, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

RBACommentsPremiumFeb rate cut doesn’t guarantee two in a row, says RBA

The Reserve Bank’s board expressed caution about future policy easing after cutting interest rates for the first time in four years, minutes of its February meeting show.

Swati Pandey

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson.

MarketsCommentsPremiumWhy reporting season proved all ordinary

A wild ride in corporate fortunes reminds us yet again that sentiment, not figures, moves the market.

Sean Smith

History shows the answer to fixing Australia’s housing affordability and supply crisis is to dramatically expand housing supply — not to further inflate prices.

opinion
opinion
OpinionCommentsPremium
opinion
Super raid plan would push Aussie dream further out of reach

Australia is in the grip of a housing crisis. Rising median house prices over decades have led to falling homeownership rates, particularly for younger generations.

Misha Schubert

Slow productivity growth has made the inflation fight harder.

EconomyCommentsIt’s the hit that keeps on hitting

Slow productivity growth after the pandemic has shaved roughly $25 billion off Australia’s economic capacity, Reserve Bank research shows.

Matt Mckenzie

RBA Governor Michele Bullock.

EconomyCommentsVegetables, meat and bread all picking up steam

Australians will be “walking on eggshells” for the rest of 2025 waiting for certainty that inflation has come under control, an economist reckons.

Matt Mckenzie

Monthly consumer price data will be among the first set of figures analysed by the Reserve Bank. (Con Chronis/AAP PHOTOS)

EconomyCommentsConsumer prices to gauge inflation fight raging in 2025

Price changes in January will be among the first set of data scoured by the Reserve Bank as it studies whether a further interest rate cut is on the cards.

Andrew Brown

Economist Saul Eslake.

analysis
analysis
TradeCommentsPremium
analysis
Can we still look to America? This economist fears not

President Donald Trump’s decision to blame Ukraine for the war with Russia potentially represents a watershed moment for Australia, and raises questions about how much we can still rely on Uncle Sam.

Simone Grogan

RBA governor Michele Bullock is facing a parliamentary grilling over the decision to cut rates.

RBACommentsTrump’s trade war looms large for Bullock’s RBA

Donald Trump’s trade war will slow Australia’s economy, RBA boss Michele Bullock says, but the impact on inflation remains unclear.

Matt Mckenzie

The big four paid almost $4 billion since the Royal Commission in compensation for misconduct.

EconomyCommentsBank culture still a problem: Parliament

Parliament’s economics committee says it remains “deeply concerned” about cultural problems in the banking sector, with ANZ in the firing line.

Matt Mckenzie

About 44,000 new jobs were created in January, while the unemployment rate lifted from 4 per cent to 4.1 per cent.

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updated
EconomyComments
updated
Has latest jobs data just crushed hopes of second rate cut?

Strong employment growth and a fresh record level of Aussies participating in the labour market has backed up the Reserve Bank’s cautious approach to interest rates.

Matt Mckenzie

Michele Bullock, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

EconomyCommentsSlowing wages stoke hope of April cut by RBA

Aussie wage growth slowed in the year to December as economists battled over the chances of another interest rate rise, with an analyst saying the RBA will be forced to act for one key reason.

Matt Mckenzie

Borrowers could be set for more rate relief, financial markets project

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updated
RBAComments
updated
That’s the first. So how low will the RBA go? Not very

Financial markets reckon borrowers could get another two doses of rate relief before 2025 is over — but the RBA is still talking tough.

Matt Mckenzie

Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock will front the media later Tuesday to further explain the central bank’s decision on rates.

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updated
RBAComments
updated
It’s a cut! RBA at long last offers mortgage relief

Michele Bullock has warned borrowers not to bank on further interest rate cuts after the RBA offered a dose of mortgage relief to millions of Aussie households.

Matt Mckenzie

Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

EconomyCommentsPremiumNervous wait on rates as economists warn cut not certain

Experts warn an interest rate cut is not a done deal today as millions of Australians hope for mortgage relief at the Reserve Bank’s first board meeting of the year.

Matt Mckenzie & Katina Curtis

Productivity Commission Chair Danielle Wood.

EconomyCommentsPremiumThousands of pages of red tape hammering builders

Australian builders are finishing half as many homes per hour as they were 30 years ago, prompting a top economic umpire to demand red tape be shredded to fix the housing crisis.

Matt Mckenzie

RBA Governor Michele Bullock is fighting to keep inflation under control.

EconomyCommentsPremiumHow inflation has hit Perth since 1999

Housing, hospital and school costs have more than tripled in Perth across the past 25 years as analysis by The West Australian reveals where inflation has hit households hardest.

Matt Mckenzie

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

EconomyCommentsBusiness-led recovery needs tax cut boost

Australian companies need a tax cut and relief from the inflation-driving impacts of ballooning government spending, a top business lobby group has declared.

Matt Mckenzie

Inflation has slowed yet prices will remain elevated. AAP

EconomyCommentsWhy you’ll be waiting until 2032 for a hip pocket recovery

Shane Oliver has warned Aussies may be waiting until 2032 before real wages return to their 2020 peak, unless politicians cut taxes and red tape to get the economy moving again.

Matt Mckenzie

RBA Governor Michele Bullock delivers an address during a CEDA (Committee for Economic Development of Australia) dinner at the International Convention Centre in Sydney, Thursday, November 28, 2024. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING

EconomyCommentsJudo Bank warns RBA must be cautious about cut

Financial markets reckon an interest rate cut next week is very likely, but Judo Bank’s Warren Hogan has warned the Reserve Bank should be cautious.

Matt Mckenzie