Economists at the RBA share insights on why they chose to study economics, their career path and their role. This event supports careers education and is primarily aimed at high school students and their careers educators.

Date: Friday, 31 July 2020 Time: 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm AEST Cost: Free

Express Interest

I would like to thank you for your support of the Anika Foundation. The pandemic that we are all living through is traumatic for our entire community. Young people are no exception, with many anxious about their future job prospects and suffering from a loss of social connectivity. This means that the work of the Foundation is as important as ever. Thank you for your support.

In this year's Anika Foundation talk, I would like to discuss two topics.

The first is the impact of the pandemic on Australia's labour market. And the second is the important role that public sector balance sheets are playing in softening the economic downturn and in building the bridge to the recovery.

Members commenced their discussion of the global economy by noting that, after a severe contraction in activity, conditions had started to improve following the easing of restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the number of new COVID-19 cases was rising rapidly in some countries, notably the United States and some emerging market economies. Restrictions had been eased in some countries despite new COVID-19 cases increasing or remaining at high levels. Given these developments, risks to the outlook for the world economy had increased recently despite the economic data having been on an improving path over the preceding couple of months as restrictions had been eased. Members noted that the sustainability of the economic recovery would depend in large part on health outcomes and ongoing policy support.

GDP for the March quarter had contracted sharply in a number of countries. The severity of the contraction reflected the timing...

Banks' funding costs and lending rates are an important part of the transmission of monetary policy to economic activity and ultimately inflation (see Explainer: The Transmission of Monetary Policy). The interest rates that banks charge borrowers and pay to savers influence the decisions of businesses and households about how much they want to borrow or save. To fully understand the transmission of monetary policy, it is important to understand what banks' funding costs and lending rates are, and what influences them.

The Chart Pack summarises macroeconomic and financial market trends in Australia and provides some information about developments for our main trading partners. The graphs in the Chart Pack are updated monthly. For more information about the source data for the Chart Pack graphs, see Data Availability. The Reserve Bank also publishes extensive statistical data on our website.

Browse the left-hand navigation to choose the graph subject category. You can then view or download the graphs individually.

All levels and growth rates are seasonally adjusted, except for those relating to the New Payments Platform and cards on issue. The data are not adjusted for the effects of breaks in the series. Historical levels and growth rates for the retail payments statistics may be revised due to the resubmission of data by some reporting institutions and the re-estimation of seasonal factors.

For further information about the Retail Payments Statistics collection, including links to relevant statistical tables, refer to Payments Data.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is warning the public to be aware of unsolicited e-mails and phone calls purportedly from the Reserve Bank.

The Reserve Bank is aware of an increased number of scams using details of the Bank. Scammers often use details of the Bank to make their scams seem more realistic, including the names of senior staff, contact information and the Reserve Bank logo.

In establishing whether you might be the subject of a scam, it is important to remember that, unsolicited:

Australia is experiencing an historic event. It is first and foremost a health event. Thankfully, thus far the health outcomes in Australia have been better than feared. The health decisions taken by the government and the public in response to the virus have been the primary shaper of the economic and financial landscape that the Reserve Bank has been operating in.

The virus has had a large economic and financial impact. The decline in output in the second quarter in Australia and around the world has been extraordinary, as significant parts of the economy were shut down. The decline in output is much larger and much more widespread globally than we saw in 2008. Accompanying this, there has been a large decline in hours worked. Unemployment has risen sharply, although the extent of the rise in the unemployment rates has varied around the world depending on the nature of the support provided by governments (as well as some definitional differences). In...

The Council of Financial Regulators (the Council) held its regular quarterly meeting on Friday, 19 June. The Australian Treasurer attended for part of the meeting. The Council has been meeting more frequently over the past several months and will continue to do so as required.

The Council's discussion focused on the ongoing coordinated response to the coronavirus (COVID 19) crisis. The virus and the measures taken to contain it have resulted in the Australian economy experiencing its biggest economic contraction since the 1930s. However, the rate of new infections has declined sharply in Australia and restrictions have been eased in many parts of the country earlier than was previously thought likely. As a result, economic activity is now beginning to recover in some sectors. Conditions in financial markets internationally and in Australia have improved after a period of significant disruption in the early stages of the...

The output of an economy usually increases over time. However, growth in economic output fluctuates, forming a ‘business cycle’ in which there are peaks and troughs in economic activity. In the trough of a business cycle, output growth can be weak or negative. This usually results in job losses and an increase in the unemployment rate. While there is no single definition of recession, it is generally agreed that a recession occurs when there is a period of reduced output and a significant increase in the unemployment rate. Views differ about how to best identify this. Recessions inflict great hardship on households and businesses, and they can have long-lasting effects on both society and the economy. Consequently, central banks and other policymakers try to reduce the frequency and severity of recessions. Monetary policy is one of the main tools used to do this. (See Explainer: Economic Growth and Explainer: What is Monetary Policy?).

This Explainer describes the...

The property sector is a significant driver of economic growth in China and a key source of demand for Australian commodity exports. Authorities have become increasingly wary of financial risks in the sector, and moved to reduce the importance of policies directed at real estate for managing short-run fluctuations in aggregate demand. The effect of COVID-19 on property sales and developer balance sheets necessitated a moderate easing of policy to support the real estate sector, but it only appears to have delayed rather than halted efforts to de-risk the sector.

This article examines the distribution of wealth in Australia prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and considers the implications for the financial resilience of households during the associated economic downturn. In terms of their wealth, most Australian households appear well placed to withstand a temporary fall in income. However, younger households and those working in industries most affected by activity restrictions are likely to be more vulnerable to income loss; only around half of these households could cover three months of expenses out of their liquid assets. Highly indebted households that experience shocks to their income and have limited liquid assets will also find this period particularly challenging. Policies to support household income, as well as those aimed at rescheduling debt repayments, should cushion these effects. The resilience of households will also depend on the timing and sustainability of the economic recovery.

Households’ perceptions of inflation can differ from inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). One factor that may contribute to this difference is that the CPI seeks to take into account changes in the quality of many items that households buy. Around 2–3 per cent of the CPI basket is adjusted for quality change each quarter, with the prices of consumer durables most affected. While a range of methods have been developed to help statisticians identify and quantify quality change, it remains a challenging area of price measurement.