by Swati Pandey
BNN Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) — Australian central bank Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser said the “first and predominant challenge” for policymakers is to bring down inflation, according to an interview with the Australian Financial Review.
Hauser, who joined the Reserve Bank earlier this year from the Bank of England, also cited the RBA’s full-employment mandate to justify Australia running a lower benchmark interest rate than global counterparts, in the interview published Monday. He said part of the RBA’s strategy is to “test” the level of full employment.
“We have a dual mandate,” he said. “If there is an opportunity to capture those gains on the employment side, I think we have an obligation to do it.” His comments reiterate those of Governor Michele Bullock and her predecessor Philip Lowe, who both stressed that they are trying to maintain employment gains while bringing down consumer prices.