RBA’s Debelle: Does not expect a rate hike for three years

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deputy Governor Guy Debelle said that he doesn’t expect a rate hike for three years, in a scheduled speech on “Monetary Policy in 2020” at the Australian Business Economists webinar.

Additional quotes

Policy action has reduced borrowing costs

Bond buying program means A$ is lower than it otherwise would be

Program needed as Australian 10-year yields were higher than in peer nations

Must be careful not to remove policy stimulus too early

Australian government debt is very manageable

Federal government and state debt is "absolutely sustainable"

Reiterates board does not expect to increase the cash rate for at least 3 years

Materially lower jobless rate needed to lift wages, inflation

Banks have strong balance sheets to support economy into recovery

Expects average mortgage interest rate paid by households to decline further

News about vaccines should help bolster confidence

Likely some time before vaccines widely available and distributed