It’s a tough time for central bankers the world over, but especially for Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe.
Having forecast during the COVID recession that Australia’s central bank wouldn’t raise interest rates before 2024, he’s taking a lot of stick for nine consecutive rate rises since May 2022. This has taken the cash rate from an historic low 0.1% up to 3.35%, and more increases are flagged before the end of 2023.
Lowe apologised for this bum steer in November. But he was still expected to face a grilling from politicians during his appearance this week before two parliamentary committees: the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on Wednesday and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics on Friday.