Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public
Administration
Media release: 16 May 2000
RESERVE TO FACE INTEREST RATE PROBE
Next Monday, the House Economics Committee will again question the Governor
of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) over his handling of monetary policy.
The hearing will be in Melbourne at the Dallas Brooks Centre at 10.00am.
Committee Chairman, David Hawker MP, said 'The past two years, with
low interest rates, an expansionary monetary policy and the Australian
economy doing so well in the face of the Asian crisis, the Governor has
rightly received much praise for his policy decisions. With interest rates
now rising and the Bank judging that '...the fairly expansionary policy
is no longer warranted...' there is pressure from the community and government
for more detail from the central bank.'
The role of the House Economics Committee in this process is crucial,
as it is the major public arena in which the Governor is called upon to
explain his policies.
To this end, Mr Hawker said 'the main issues likely to be canvassed
at the hearing include:
- more detail on the reasons for the Bank's recent increases in interest
rates;
- inflation risks and inflation expectations;
- the Bank's intervention in the foreign exchange market;
- impact of the Federal Budget on monetary policy;
- influences from the US;
- levels of household debt and wealth;
- current expectations on the impact of tax reform;
- the Bank's transparency of its decisions;
- updates on the Reserve Bank's investigation on bank fees and charges
and its response to the recent CANNEX report showing rising bank fees;
and
- progress made by the Payment Systems Board in its study on credit
card loyalty schemes and interchange fees, particularly given the recent
criticism of the UK banks' credit cards business by the Cruikshank report'.
The basis for the Committee's discussion with the Bank will be the RBA's
May 2000 semi-annual statement on monetary policy.
At this hearing the Committee has invited some local university and
senior secondary economics students and staff, to attend the hearing.
The committee is pleased with the response to this opportunity for students
to see the Parliament at work.
For the first time there will be a live audio broadcast of the hearing
on the Parliament House Monitoring System in Canberra and an audio
webcast on the Parliament's Internet site: http://webcast.aph.gov.au/livewebcast3.asp
Members of the public are welcome to attend the hearing or to tune in
to the audio Internet webcast.
Ends
16 May 2000
Further information:
David Hawker MP (Chairman) (03) 5572 1100 (Electorate)
Tas Luttrell (Principal Research Officer) 02 6277 4587
Email: EFPA.Reps@aph.gov.au
For Media enquiries:
Sally Webster (Media Adviser) (02) 6277 2063 Mobile: 0401 143 724
Email: Sally.Webster.Reps@aph.gov.au
Other information on committee's inquiry: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/efpa/rba9899/rbaindex.htm
Copy of the Reserve Bank's May 2000 semi-annual statement on monetary
policy: http://www.rba.gov.au/PublicationsAndResearch/Bulletin/bu_may00/bu_0500_1.pdf
Public Hearing Program
Date: Monday 22 May 2000
Time: 10:00am to 2:00pm
Location: Gardenview/Parkview Rooms
Dallas Brooks Convention and Function Centre
300 Albert Street, East Melbourne
Witnesses:
Mr Ian Macfarlane, Governor
Dr Stephen Grenville, Deputy Governor
Mr Glenn Stevens, Assistant Governor (Economic)
Note: Media access to the public hearing room will be available
from 8:30am
Committee Membership 39th Parliament
Chairman: Mr David Hawker MP
Deputy Chairman: Mr Gregory Wilton MP
Members:
Mr Anthony Albanese MP
Ms Anna Burke MP
Ms Teresa Gambaro MP
Mrs Kay Hull MP
Mr Mark Latham MP
Mr Christopher Pyne MP
Hon Alex Somlyay MP
Dr Andrew Southcott MP
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