The RBA appears to be performing a rather fine balancing act.
Its Board knows rising inflation is about to emerge. And this is only temporarily masked by a poor March quarter, following the nation’s flooding earlier in the year. [Read more…]
RBA Reprieve …
But don’t be Fooled
9 June, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Making Sense of
The Mining Boom
31 May, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Size-wise, as a proportion of Australia’s economy … Manufacturing and Mining contribute more or less the same output.
However, Mining’s investment spend is currently more than three times that being spent by the Manufacturing sector.
All the media attention has mainly been focused upon this disparity. But that doesn’t really tell you the complete story — as you can see from the first of these graphs. [Read more…]
The RBA Keeps Its Powder Dry
4 May, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, the Reserve Bank decided to hold the cash rate steady at 4.75%.
However, it also acknowledged that Australia’s underlying inflation rate will now be running at around 3% for the year — and that’s ignoring volatile items, like petrol and food price spikes.
Economists tend to agree that the high $A has effectively done much of the “heavy lifting” for the RBA.
But as these graphs show, the RBA will most likely be forced into a midyear rate rise. With at least one further rise likely, before the end of 2011.
Put simply: Increasing business confidence (confirmed by improved Business Credit figures) means more investment being undertaken by business … which will in turn will put pressure on wage rates.
So far, the RBA has displayed a bias towards pre-emptive action. And there is no reason to suggest it would suddenly change that approach. As such, many people have been left confused by yesterday’s decision.
However, astute Commercial property investors recognise the time to strike is when the “uninformed” are dithering … due to their lack of understanding.
Rates on Hold … For Now!
5 April, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, the Reserve Bank left the cash rate unchanged at 4.75%. And these graphs will help to explain their current dilemma.
For the time being, the RBA’s focus is upon “inflation excluding volatile items” — mainly because of the various natural disasters, both here and overseas. [Read more…]
Do You Remember Back Then … ?
5 May, 2009 by Leave a Comment
In an earlier article, I gave you a bullet-point comparison of how things are NOW … compared to the early 1990s … in relation to Commercial property.
Anyway, here are some very revealing graphs — based upon figures from the RBA.
Now & Then
Back in the 1990s, the banks were burdened with a heavy corporate exposure; and interest rates were up around 18% pa.
[Read more…]
