Energy News

At its meeting today, the Board decided to: maintain the cash rate target at 10 basis points and the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances at zero per cent continue to purchase government securities at the rate of $4 billion a week until at least mid February 2022. The Australian economy is recovering from the setback caused by the Delta outbreak. High rates of vaccination and substantial policy support are underpinning this recovery. Household consumption is rebounding strongly and the outlook for business investment has improved. The emergence of the Omicron strain is a new source of uncertainty, but it is not expected to derail the recovery. The economy is expected to return to its pre-Delta path in the first half of 2022. Leading indicators point to a strong recovery in the labour market. Job advertisements are at an historically high level and there are reports of firms finding it difficult to hire workers. Wages growth has picked up but, at the aggregate level, has only returned to the relatively low rates prevailing before the pandemic. A further pick-up in wages growth is expected as the labour market tightens. This pick-up is expected to be only gradual, although there is uncertainty about the behaviour of wages as the unemployment rate declines to historically low levels. Inflation has increased, but, in underlying terms, is still low, at 2.1 per cent. The headline CPI inflation rate is 3 per cent and is being affected by higher petrol prices, higher prices for newly constructed homes and the disruptions in global supply chains. A further, but only gradual, pick-up in underlying inflation is expected. The central forecast is for underlying inflation to reach 2½ per cent over 2023. Housing prices have risen strongly over the past year, although the rate of increase has eased over recent months. Housing credit increased by 6.7 per cent over the past year, but, more recently, the value of housing loan commit tweet at 10:31pm: RBA SAYS THE OMICRON STRAIN IS A NEW SOURCE OF UNCERTAINTY, BUT IT IS NOT EXPECTED TO DERAIL THE RECOVERY. #News #Forex #RBA tweet at 10:32pm: RBA: To keep buying bonds at AUD4b/week until at least mid-February, won't lift rates until inflation sustainably within target -BBG tweet at 10:33pm: RBA: WE WILL NOT RAISE THE CASH RATE UNTIL REAL INFLATION IS CONSISTENTLY WITHIN THE TARGET RANGE OF 2% TO 3%.

tweet at 4:04am: ECB's Enria Says credit risk remains high on our agenda as we exit the pandemic A possible deterioration in asset quality calls for supervisory attention. Several early indicators point to potential asset quality deterioration in the future. tweet at 4:04am: NPL ratios in sectors more vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic have also started increasing Says signs of market exuberance call for continued vigilanceEnria: Our supervisory priorities for a healthier banking sector after the pandemic ECB Banking Supervision has today published the SSM Supervisory Priorities for 2022-2024. In this blog post, we look at the concrete areas we want to focus on over the next three years to ensure that banks: (1) emerge from the pandemic healthy, (2) seize the opportunity to address structural weaknesses through digitalisation strategies and enhanced governance, and (3) tackle emerging risks, including climate-related and environmental risks, IT and cyber risks. Credit risk remains high on our agenda as we exit the pandemic Our first priority is to ensure that supervised banks emerge healthy from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Banks have proven resilient so far, also owing to unprecedented public support. While our initial expectations on asset quality might have been overly pessimistic, we remain convinced that caution is needed in monitoring and managing credit risk.

tweet at 6:36am: US TREASURY SECRETARY YELLEN: INFLATION IS THE MAIN WORRY TODAY. tweet at 6:38am: YELLEN: SOME SHORTAGES WILL TAKE A COUPLE OF YEARS TO RESOLVE tweet at 6:38am: YELLEN: LABOR SITUATION IS VERY UNUSUAL tweet at 6:40am: US TREASURY SECRETARY YELLEN: THE LABOUR SITUATION IS OUT OF THE ORDINARY; THE HIGH RATE OF QUITTING POINTS TO A TIGHT LABOUR MARKET.