Australian Business Economists Conference

Australian Business Economists Conference

Five students were invited to attend the Australian Business Economists conference held at the Reserve Bank Australia (RBA) in Martin Place. The theme of the conference was forecasting – the outlook for the economy, policy and politics. Held in the boardroom on top of the RBA, with sweeping harbour views to the east towards Bondi, The Heads and Manly, the students heard economists of various financial institutions discuss the prospects for the Australian economy in 2019 and the challenges it faces.

Amongst the speakers were:

Dr Alexandra Heath, Head of Economic Analysis, RBA who spoke on her observations of the February Statement on Monetary Policy.
Mr Jonathan Coppel, Commissioner of the Productivity Commission who spoke on its recent report “Rising inequality? A stocktake of the evidence”
A panel discussion of senior economists of Australia’s largest banks on the current outlook for the economy and financial markets.
It was a very interesting morning, not least to see if the students could make a 7am start.

So what are some of the forecasts for the economy ?

Wages growth will slowly pick up.
Inflation will move upward to the lower end of the RBA target range.
Housing prices to continue to fall for at least the next 6 months.

Danny Lai