Rate cuts anytime this year in Australia, are now hanging by a thread, given the latest inflation data came in hotter than expected, despite the annual rate falling thanks to base effects from months ago, and some changes in the weightings.
The upside surprise came via a smaller than expected fall in utilities, but stronger than expected increases in health, car prices and insurance. Sticky inflation has become a reality, leaving the RBA board’s decision last month to abandon its stated tightening bias looking premature. Most concerning for the RBA will be the surprising strength in trimmed mean inflation, its preferred measure of underlying price pressures, which rose 4%, also higher than forecast and well above the RBA’s 2-3% target.
The ABS reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.0 per cent in the March quarter, higher than the 0.6 per cent rise in the December 2023 quarter. Annually, the CPI rose 3.6 per cent to the March 2024 quarter. While prices continued to rise for most goods and services, annual CPI inflation was down from 4.1 per cent last quarter and has fallen from the peak of 7.8 per cent in December 2022.
RBA governor Michele Bullock did warn there will be bumps on the journey back to target, and while one quarterly increase in underlying inflation does not mean disinflation is over it is an early warning sign that Australia could be going the way of the United States, where inflation is proving hard to tame. At very least this higher-than-expected result in the first three months of 2024, suggesting price pressures are proving stickier and bolstering the case for the central bank to hold interest rates at a 12-year high.
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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
It’s become a bit of a ritual, as members of various committees linked to Central Bank interest rate decisions speak in the open spaces between policy meetings. This week, Washington has been the centre of gravity thanks to the IMF conferences.
Markets are hypersensitive at the moment, having been baying for rate cuts all year, and positioning accordingly, despite the data is pointing elsewhere. But now, Money managers and strategists on Wall Street have been forced to rethink their assumptions over the past two weeks in response to strong economic data and remarks by Fed officials.
For example, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said that there’s no rush to lower interest rates and economic data will determine the timing.
And Bank of England policymaker Megan Greene speaking at an Atlantic Council event on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s meeting in Washington, said the UK faces difficult trade-offs over whether to cut interest rates because underlying inflation remains high and growth is weak.
But Greene said rate cuts were not imminent and the combination of high inflation and weak growth means “we are sort of in trade-off territory.”
In Australia, after the latest jobs data rate cut expectations are also being pushed out. Andrew Lilley the chief Rate Strategist at Barren joey said “There’s no impetus for the RBA to cut rates as inflation is outside of the 2 per cent to 3 percent band. The RBA will be very comfortable to sit on hold.
But even if rates go no higher, the RBA says total scheduled household mortgage payments (comprising both interest and scheduled principal payments) have increased to around 10 per cent of household disposable income as of December 2023, exceeding the estimated previous historical peak in 2008. These scheduled mortgage payments are expected to increase further to reach around 10½ per cent of household disposable income by end-2024 as more fixed-rate loans expire and reprice at higher interest rates.
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Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
Markets Rethink Rate Cuts As Central Bank Hawks Jawbone!
Our latest Friday Afternoon chat with journalist Tarric Brooker as we look at the current data, which questions potential rate cuts, and housing trends, as demand stays strong while supply is limited.
Below the water line we examine some of the underlying assumptions behind the numbers, and how politics have changed.
Worse, the structural issues can be traced back to a series of political decisions, which were policy errors – when will they come clean?
Tarric’s charts are here: https://avidcom.substack.com/p/dfa-chart-pack-12th-april-2024 if you want to follow along.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Despite cash being legal tender in Australia, surprisingly it is legal for businesses to refuse to accept it provided that they inform consumers of their stance before any “contract” for the supply of goods or services is entered into.
The war on cash has taken an interesting turn, with the RBA being questioned by the Senate Inquiry into Regional Bank Branch closures, and claiming the use of cash had fallen, but frankly on thin and filtered evidence; while Armaguard, Australia’s only cash-in-transit business is facing the prospect of collapsing due to the claimed declining use of cash. The RBA, which regulates the payments industry and is responsible for printing money is also involved in the crisis talks.
And a social media campaign, led by the Cash is King Facebook group is calling on Aussies to withdraw and use cash next Tuesday, April 2, in protest against the shift to digital payments. The protest is aimed at showing Australia’s banks and retailers that there is still a demand for the use of cash in society. That is, if you can still find an ATM.
So, action on Tuesday to grab some cash could be an important step on the road to saving cash for All Australians who want to use it, despite pressure from the Government who is responding to huge pressure from the commercial banks. This in turn puts massive pressure on the current Senate review, who is scheduled to hold one more community hearing on Bribie Island on the 16th April. Will the committee who has laid bare the issues of branch closures and removal of cash come good or hook their final report like the earlier Royal Commission Inquiry into Financial Services, which exposed major issues through their hearings, only to turn to water in their final report and recommendations, which allowed the banks to behave business as usual. This time all eyes will be on the Senate.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Despite cash being legal tender in Australia, surprisingly it is legal for businesses to refuse to accept it provided that they inform consumers of their stance before any “contract” for the supply of goods or services is entered into.
The war on cash has taken an interesting turn, with the RBA being questioned by the Senate Inquiry into Regional Bank Branch closures, and claiming the use of cash had fallen, but frankly on thin and filtered evidence; while Armaguard, Australia’s only cash-in-transit business is facing the prospect of collapsing due to the claimed declining use of cash. The RBA, which regulates the payments industry and is responsible for printing money is also involved in the crisis talks.
And a social media campaign, led by the Cash is King Facebook group is calling on Aussies to withdraw and use cash next Tuesday, April 2, in protest against the shift to digital payments. The protest is aimed at showing Australia’s banks and retailers that there is still a demand for the use of cash in society. That is, if you can still find an ATM.
So, action on Tuesday to grab some cash could be an important step on the road to saving cash for All Australians who want to use it, despite pressure from the Government who is responding to huge pressure from the commercial banks. This in turn puts massive pressure on the current Senate review, who is scheduled to hold one more community hearing on Bribie Island on the 16th April. Will the committee who has laid bare the issues of branch closures and removal of cash come good or hook their final report like the earlier Royal Commission Inquiry into Financial Services, which exposed major issues through their hearings, only to turn to water in their final report and recommendations, which allowed the banks to behave business as usual. This time all eyes will be on the Senate.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Last week has turned out to be an important one in terms of household finances and mortgage rates. The RBA this week said households are generally weathering the record run of interest rate rises but one in twenty owner occupied mortgage holders are in a dire financial position because of the higher interest rates and cost-of-living increases.
On average, debt servicing costs have risen about 30-60% since the RBA started hiking its cash rate in May 2022. That said, less than 1% of all housing loans were 90 or more days in arrears, through loans with payments overdue for less than 90 days have “continued to tick up gradually” and are expected to continue to increase in part because of weak household consumption.
Despite the trajectory of interest rates, on-going strength in the labour market enables most people to keep up with rising debt repayment levels, the Reserve Bank said in its quarterly financial stability report. These challenges would intensify if economic conditions were to deteriorate by more than expected or if inflation is more persistent than forecast in the out of date RBA’s February Statement.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
RBA Admits Around 175,000 Mortgaged Households Have A Cash Flow Problem!
Last week has turned out to be an important one in terms of household finances and mortgage rates. The RBA this week said households are generally weathering the record run of interest rate rises but one in twenty owner occupied mortgage holders are in a dire financial position because of the higher interest rates and cost-of-living increases.
On average, debt servicing costs have risen about 30-60% since the RBA started hiking its cash rate in May 2022. That said, less than 1% of all housing loans were 90 or more days in arrears, through loans with payments overdue for less than 90 days have “continued to tick up gradually” and are expected to continue to increase in part because of weak household consumption.
Despite the trajectory of interest rates, on-going strength in the labour market enables most people to keep up with rising debt repayment levels, the Reserve Bank said in its quarterly financial stability report. These challenges would intensify if economic conditions were to deteriorate by more than expected or if inflation is more persistent than forecast in the out of date RBA’s February Statement.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Journalist Tarric Brooker and I deep dive on the Australian Housing Crisis, as conclude that there is no easy fix, thanks to generations of bad policy and active intervention. So who are the winners and losers?
Tarric slides are here if you want to follow along: https://avidcom.substack.com/p/dfa-chart-pack-22nd-march-2024
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
The Aussie Housing Crisis Out To 2030 And Beyond? With Tarric Brooker...
Journalist Tarric Brooker and I deep dive on the Australian Housing Crisis, as conclude that there is no easy fix, thanks to generations of bad policy and active intervention. So who are the winners and losers?
Tarric slides are here if you want to follow along: https://avidcom.substack.com/p/dfa-chart-pack-22nd-march-2024
http://www.martinnorth.com/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
An important update relating to the Section 11 power at the RBA with Robbie Barwick from the Citizens Party. In some really good news, it appears this change will be resisted in Parliament, so we explore how this came about, and the broader issues which this whole episode represents.
Yes, the democracy sausage is indeed still sizzling, largely thanks to individuals making their views known to our Politicians and the influence of social media on public discourse to positive effect!
See my show A Question Of Democracy! https://youtu.be/R8GNp1hYdq8
