Politics with Michelle Grattan: Economist Saul Eslake on why Reserve Bank needs to raise rates next week
Michelle Grattan speaks with independent economist Saul Eslake on whether the reserve bank will next week raise interest rates for the first time in an election campaign for the first time since 2007
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Two key economic indicators are the key to predicting most of the past 120 years of federal elections results – including ones the polls have famously got wrong.
A person shops at a supermarket in Moscow in April. War-related sanctions have caused inflation to soar – 2% per week in the first three weeks of the war and 1% per week thereafter, equivalent to 68% per year.
Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP
While the country’s Central Bank may have managed to offset some of the tougher sanctions, the West’s economic broadside has caused long-term damage to “Fortress Russia”.
The Bank of Canada announced a 0.5 per cent interest rate increase on April 13, 2022, in a move to quell Canada’s high inflation.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Garret Martin, American University School of International Service
For the second time running, it is looking like the French presidential election will go to a runoff between centralist Emmanuel Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen.
Australia’s Reserve Bank no longer says it is patient, but it is unlikely to move move until it sees widespread higher wage growth.
There is a strong possibility that market disturbances related to the conflict in Ukraine could push grocery prices in Canada even higher than originally predicted.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Consumers are feeling pain at the pump and demanding solutions. Some politicians are pushing gasoline tax waivers – but that means less money to fix roads, and often not much economic relief.
Oil revenues are crucial to Russia’s economy. The US only accounts for a small fraction of them, so banning Russian oil imports has mainly symbolic value.