Wage Growth Slows To New Annual Low

Wages in Australia have grown at their slowest ever annual rate since the government started issuing data on wage prices nearly two decades ago. Official figures show wages rose by 0.6 per cent in the December quarter, while the annual pace of wage growth fell to a new record low, reflecting ongoing weak conditions for businesses and pointing to low inflation and interest...

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RBA tipped to leave rates on hold at next week’s meeting

The RBA is set to keep interest rates on hold, rather than risk another cut. Source: Getty Images THE Reserve Bank of Australia will likely leave interest rates on hold at next week’s policy meeting, fearing a further cut could put a rocket under too-hot property prices. With the country’s home prices already at record-high levels, there are signs of renewed...

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Cut Corporate Tax Rate To 25 percent BDO

Australia should aim to cut the corporate tax rate to 25 per cent to stop businesses moving offshore. That’s the view of business consultants BDO, which says it not only costs Australian jobs when a business moves elsewhere, but also millions of dollars in lost revenue. At 30 per cent, Australia’s corporate tax rate is higher than all but three of the 34 OECD countries – Belgium, France and the United States. “Corporate tax is a big...

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RBA To Monitor Property Prices

Australia’s central bank debated whether to cut interest rates at its February policy meeting or wait until March, before choosing the earlier date which had the option of communicating its reasons in a quarterly policy statement just days after. “In deciding the timing of such a change, members assessed arguments for acting at this meeting or at the following meeting,” the Reserve Bank of Australia said in minutes from the meeting. “On balance,...

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Australian Billionaire Gerry Harvey Accuses Tax Lobbyists Of Pushing Multinational Companies Interests

Australian retail billionaire Gerry Harvey slammed the country’s powerful business lobby groups for pushing the interests of profit-shifting multinational corporations ahead of Australian companies. Harvey said companies that pay their fair share in taxes have no voice in government. The billionaire retailer spoke after it was publicly revealed that Apple Inc only paid $80 million in tax to Australia despite earning $6 billion in local revenues....

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RBA Cuts GDP Inflation Forecasts

The Reserve Bank of Australia has downgraded its forecasts for Australia’s GDP growth and inflation giving an insight into its reasons for cutting the official cash rate to a record low on Tuesday. In its latest quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, the RBA revised the forecast for GDP growth for the year to June to 2.25 per cent, compared with a forecast of 2 to 3 per cent for the same period in the bank’s previous estimate. The forecast for...

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