Ex-RBA’s Edwards: RBA could raise rates eight times in two years – BBG

Bloomberg out with headlines from the former RBA board member John Edwards, commenting on the future course of the central bank’s monetary policy.

Key Quotes:

“It seems to me that something like eight quarter percentage point tightenings over 2018 and 2019 are distinctly possible, if the RBA’s economic forecasts prove correct.”

“It’s possible the tightening could start earlier, or if not the tightening itself, at least the signaling which should precede it. We may be seeing a little of that now.”

“The bigger the household debt, the more impact a quarter percentage point increase in the policy rate will have on household spending.”

“In the Australian case, it is certainly possible that high household home mortgage debt will crimp consumer spending if the policy rate returned to what was once considered a relatively low long-term rate.”