ACOSS is calling on the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates again tomorrow after the latest inflation data show that price pressures are continuing to ease.
“With inflation well within the RBA’s target and decreasing, there is no reason to keep interest rates high,” said ACOSS Acting CEO Jacqueline Phillips.
“People on low and modest incomes have borne the brunt of interest rate rises and desperately need relief. The economic conditions clearly support a rate cut.”
Ms Phillips said a series of rate cuts now would open the door to stronger growth in jobs and help restore people’s incomes after a decade of stagnation. After taking account of inflation, household incomes are barely higher than a decade ago.
“Low unemployment should be celebrated, not feared. There is no evidence that our current unemployment rate is driving inflation. In fact, inflation continues to fall even with unemployment at these levels,” Ms Phillips said.
“We should be supporting job creation, not deliberately trying to push people out of employment to meet an arbitrary unemployment target.”
While welcome, rate cuts alone would not solve the living standards crisis for people who are hit the hardest.
“The government has a major role to play in providing relief beyond decisions taken by the RBA,” Ms Phillips said.
“We need an urgent increase to JobSeeker and other social security payments to lift them to a liveable level.
“We also need further investment in social housing and home energy upgrades for low-income renters to bring down energy bills.”
Contact details:
Lauren Ferri: 0422 581 506