(Add Lowe comment, details)
SYDNEY, March 15 (Reuters) – Australia’s central bank is doing what it can to support economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and maintain policy options to meet its employment and inflation targets , Governor Philip Lowe said Monday.
Australia has been one of the world’s success stories in the treatment of the pandemic and has emerged sharply since its first decline in three decades with an annual economic output already close at hand. distance before pandemic levels.
The number of people in jobs has also almost returned to pre-pandemic levels and “Australia is doing much better than most other advanced economies” across a range of indicators, said Lowe in Melbourne.
“However, this does not obscure that we still have a long way to go,” said Lowe in prepared remarks. “The challenges we face are all great.”
The unemployment rate at 6.4% is too high and the economy is working very short of its potential with both inflation and wage growth well below the RBA’s desired levels.
This month the RBA left its cash level at a low of 0.1% and reaffirmed its three-year yield target to help revive the economy.
Further progress is expected towards full earnings and the inflation target although “it is going to take some time before we reach our goals,” said Lowe.
Business investment was one missing piece in the recovery, Lowe said, with many companies canceling plans and trying to reduce risk on their balance sheets.
“The RBA is doing what it can to support recovery from the pandemic and we will continue to do so until we reach our goals of full employment and inflation,” Lowe reiterated. (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Kim Coghill and Sam Holmes)