Employment a key national priority for Reserve Bank of Australia

Absorbing spare labour market capacity and achieving full employment are important national priorities, said Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Assistant Governor Luci Ellis.

“Full employment is a worthy goal for its own sake, given how important jobs and income are for people’s welfare,” Ellis said in a speech. 

“It is also a precondition for achieving the rates of wages growth that would be consistent with inflation being sustainably within the 2% to 3% target range that the Bank is mandated to achieve.”

RBA is committed to maintaining a monetary policy that will support these employment and inflation goals, he added. 

Australia’s central bank has repeatedly said that it will not raise interest rates from the current 0.1% until actual inflation is within sustainable levels of its target band. 

Another reason to support demand is to support structural changes that might be needed in a post-pandemic world, noted Ellis. 

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“For all these reasons, the Board remains committed to maintaining highly supporting monetary conditions. The aim of these policy settings is to support a return to full employment and inflation consistent with the target.”