O75 Public Administration

RBA’s ultra-low rate loans barely boosted lending

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 14-Dec-22

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s approach to monetary policy during the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to attract scrutiny. RBA analysts have undertaken a review of the central bank’s Term Funding Facility, which offered ultra-low interest loans to banks with the aim of providing support to businesses during the pandemic-induced economic downturn. The analysts concluded that there was little evidence that the TFF had increased overall lending, particularly to the small and medium enterprise sector.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 82.9 despite eighth straight interest rate increase

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Dec-22

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 82.9 in the week ended 11 December. However, it is 25.1pts below the same week a year ago (108.0) and 5.9pts below the 2022 weekly average of 88.8. Consumer confidence was up slightly in New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia, but down in Victoria and Queensland. Now 21% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 45% (down 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 30% (up 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 33% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 8% (up 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 33% (down 3ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 23% (down 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 49% (up 4ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Gas reservation mooted as energy row heats up

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rosie Lewis, Perry Williams, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 14-Dec-22

The oil and gas industry has criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after he flagged the possibility of adopting a national gas reservation policy. Albanese has praised Western Australia’s gas reservation policy and indicated that replicating this at federal level may be needed as a longer-term solution to rising energy prices than the government’s proposed intervention. NSW and Victoria have advocated a national gas reservation scheme, but APPEA CEO Samantha McCulloch says adequate measures are already in place, such as the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism. She contends that increased regulation will deter investment and adversely affect Australia’s reputation amongst its key trading partners.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Greens to push for right to disconnect in next wave of IR changes

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angus Thompson
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 7-Dec-22

The federal government’s Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill was recently passed by parliament with the Greens’ support. The government will pursue further industrial relations reforms in 2023, and Greens leader Adam Bandt says his party will push for this to include a legislated "right to disconnect" from work outside of an employee’s official working hours. He notes that many employers now expect their workers to respond to emails and telephone calls at all times. Workers in several European countries already have a right to disconnect. The Greens will also push for casual workers to have greater input into the scheduling of their work hours.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Expect more interest rate rises in 2023: RBA

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Dec-22

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the latest increase in official interest rates is "the Christmas present no Australian household wanted". Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has signalled that further interest rate increases are likely in 2023, after the RBA lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.1 per cent on Tuesday. Lowe said the size and timing of future rate rises will continue to be determined by incoming economic data and the RBA board’s assessment of the outlook for inflation and the labour market. He also noted that the headline inflation rate is still well above the RBA’s target range of 2-3 per cent. Chalmers says the eight increases in the cash rate since May are likely to weigh on economic growth.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY,{SPAC}RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Scott Morrison’s lawyers say his reputation is on the line over robodebt royal commission testimony

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Luke Henriques-Gomes
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Dec-22

Former prime minister Scott Morrison is slated to appear before the royal commission into the robodebt scheme next Wednesday. Morrison’s lawyer, James Renwick SC, wants his client to be able to refer to secret cabinet documents in his upcoming testimony, even though royal commissioner Catherine Holmes has ruled that the documents cannot be released on the grounds of confidentiality. Renwick has argued that Morrison’s reputation is on the line, and that he is entitled to answer the notice from the commission in a complete fashion. Morrison was in charge of the social security portfolio when the scheme to recover overpayments to welfare recipients was developed.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE ROBODEBT SCHEME

PM tells states to cap coal price

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson,{SPAC}Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 7-Dec-22

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is said to be confident of securing a deal with state and territory leaders on gas and coal price caps before Christmas. The federal government will intervene in the gas market, although it is likely to wait until February to legislate its mandatory code of conduct, which will impose a floating price mechanism on gas producers as part of its strategy to reduce energy prices. However, the government will push for NSW and Queensland to impose their own price caps on coal; the states have warned that this would require the government to compensate coal producers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 82.7 to start December

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Dec-22

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 82.7 in the week ended 4 December. However, it is now 26.6pts below the same week a year ago (107.5) and 6.3pts below the 2022 weekly average of 89.0. There were mixed results around the nation; Consumer Confidence increased in New South Wales and South Australia but decreased in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Now 21% of Australians (down 4ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 47% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. Some 29% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 34% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Only 7% (up 1ppt) of Australians now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 36% (down 3ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 26% (up 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the highest figure for this indicator since early July), while 45% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED,{SPAC}AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Governor’s mea culpa for flawed interest rates guidance

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 5 : 29-Nov-22

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has used an appearance before a Senate estimates hearing to apologise for the RBA’s flawed guidance during late 2020 and most of 2021 that interest rates would not go up until 2024. However, he stated that its advice at the time needed to be taken into context, noting it was the height of the pandemic, and the dire situation that the country was in suggested to the RBA that inflation was unlikely to pick up quickly. Lowe also said he was "very glad" that workers were getting higher pay, while he did not think that labour costs would increase sufficiently enough to cause a 1970s style wage-price spiral.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Melbourne Institute & Roy Morgan – Taking The Pulse of the Nation: Tax rebates boosted consumption for Australians

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Nov-22

In 2022, tax refunds for Australians with taxable income below $126,000 were expected to be between $675 and $1,500 – a $420 increase from previous years. The Taking the Pulse of the Nation Survey recently asked Australians how they would spend their expected tax refunds. The survey results indicated that about $515 (48%) of the refund was spent on consumption, $318 (27%) on savings and investment, and $246 (22%) on paying existing debts. The response to tax refunds varied with income: those with annual taxable income below $32,000 consumed 50 percent more of their refunds than those with annual taxable income above $100,000. Of interest is whether tax filers’ anticipated consumption coincided with their actual behaviour after the tax refund was received. There is remarkable consistency in what tax filers say they would do with the refund and what they did with it. Policy makers and business might be able to anticipate policy effects by gathering richer data from consumers. This report is based on a total of 2,000 respondents from data collected in May and October 2022. Visit the Melbourne Institute Taking the Pulse of the Nation web portal for further information and to access interactive charts and other findings: https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/data/ttpn.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH