SYDNEY, April 17 (Reuters) - Australia's Treasurer on
Monday said he was close to announcing details of a wide-ranging
review into the country's central bank which would require legal
changes for some steps, underlining the scope of the shake-up.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the independent review had
provided 51 recommendations for changing how the Reserve Bank of
Australia (RBA) operates and formulates policy.
Chalmers has already consulted on the proposals with RBA
Governor Philip Lowe and will be meeting with opposition
lawmakers with the aim of releasing the government's response to
the review this week.
"There are some recommendations which would require
legislative change," Chalmers told a media conference. "There
are some that would require the governor and the board to change
the way that they go about things at the bank."
Lowe's future has been under a cloud since telling
Australian borrowers late in 2021 that interest rates were
unlikely to rise until 2024.
Instead, inflation surged past expectations and forced the
bank to start hiking in May last year, having now lifted rates
by 350 basis points to 3.6%.
Lowe's current seven-year term ends in September and there
is speculation it will not be extended as it was with his two
predecessors.
The review is expected to have recommended changes to the
RBA's policy making board, which currently consists of two RBA
staff, the Treasury secretary and six business people.
This could include a separate specialist committee to advise
on or even decide monetary policy and/or a change to how board
members are chosen and pointed.
The government has already broken with tradition by publicly
advertising for applicants to two board positions.
Most analysts doubt the review will radically alter the
RBA's current inflation target of 2% to 3%, but may tweak the
language of its goals which include a stable currency, full
employment and the welfare of the Australian people.
(Reporting by Wayne Cole
Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
Messaging: wayne.cole.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
