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at 11:20 am on May 7, 2021 | 24 comments
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) deputy governor, Guy Debelle, gave a speech last night whereby he said the central bank is aware of concerns in the community regarding rising house prices.
However, Debelle expressed the view that monetary policy is not one of the ‘tools’ that should be used to address the issue. He also noted that unemployment would be higher if the RBA prematurely increased interest rates in an attempt to curb rising house prices:
One price that has received a lot of attention has been housing prices…
The chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), Mr Wayne Byres, has highlighted three important issues that are relevant and critical to the long-term strength and resilience of the financial sector.
In a speech yesterday to the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, he said that the issues are: climate-related risks; governance, culture, remuneration and accountability; and cyber security risks..
APRA is also adapting its supervision in response to evolving risks, launching a number of pilot projects to trial new ways of doing things.
Climate-related risks
Mr Byres indicated that while the financial sector as a whole has been increasingly alert to the potential risks of a changing climate, understanding and managing them is easier said than done given the long-term and unprecedented nature of climate risks.
MacroBusiness
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at 10:30 am on April 29, 2021 | 39 comments
Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) chairman, Wayne Byers, has hosed down speculation that the regulator would take action to cool Australia’s rapidly rising property market:
“Risk for the financial system occurs when lending standards are poor or weak,” Mr Byres told a Committee for the Economic Development of Australia event.
“We don’t see that up to now – banks have done a pretty good job in holding lending standards up.”
The APRA chief also said that regulatory settings were “broadly right”, given that the agency’s mandate was broader than stability of the financial system at all costs.
Biggest climate risk is not preparing: APRA 28 April 2021
The prudential regulator is in phase two of its work around the risks climate change imposes on the financial system, with chair Wayne Byres saying it would be a “cruel irony” for the industry to come out of the COVID crisis unprepared.
APRA recently released its long-awaited draft climate risk guidance for banks, insurers and superannuation funds, asking financial institutions to understand and manage how climate change will affect their business.
The guide has not set any restrictions on lending, insuring or investing, but it has recommended companies integrate climate considerations into all of their decision-making processes.
Upping the budget ante on childcare
The insistence that far greater federal investment in childcare is urgent and overdue is coming from a formidable and unlikely coalition of groups.
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Add Joe Biden to the rapidly rising pressure on Josh Frydenberg to offer more assistance for childcare as part of next month’s budget.
In his inaugural address to Congress, the US President is calling for free preschool for three and four-year-olds in a $US200 billion ($257 billion) investment as part of his major push on an “American Families Plan” focused on funding social infrastructure.
Frydenberg’s early equivalent of an Australian families plan was heavily focused on new spending on aged care and mental health in a budget supposed to hold the bottom line relatively steady after the massive increase in deficit spending last year to counter the impact of the pandemic.