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RBA boss to stay on if reappointed

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe says whether he stays on is up to the government.

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe says whether he stays on is up to the government. Photo: AAP

Philip Lowe will stay on as governor of the Reserve Bank if the federal government chooses to renew his tenure next year.

Despite calls for his resignation in the wake of some badly communicated forward guidance about how long interest rates would stay at extremely low levels, Dr Lowe said he had no intention of resigning.

“That’s a matter for the government when my term finishes next year in September,” he said on Wednesday.

“I’ve got an important job to do up until then, I intend to do it,” he told the Australian Payment Networks Summit in Sydney.

Questions have been raised about Dr Lowe’s leadership following some forward guidance issued during the pandemic with poorly communicated conditions that suggested interest rates were unlikely to rise until 2024, with some – including the Greens – calling for his resignation.

Last week, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the independent review of the RBA would inform the government’s decision on whether to keep the governor in the top job.

A final report with recommendations is expected from the reviewers by March 2023.

Meanwhile, new data released by the national statistics bureau revealed job vacancies reached a record high in the September quarter.

Around one in 30 jobs sat unfilled in the quarter according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

“Just as the unemployment rate has been falling during a tight labour market, the proportion of vacant jobs has been increasing,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

The proportion of vacant jobs was 3.2 per cent in the September quarter, which was not far off the 3.5 per cent unemployment rate.

“These two measures are useful to track together, along with underemployment, to understand both supply and demand in this particularly tight labour market.”

Multiple job holders increased marginally 0.4 per cent to another record high of 6.5 per cent.

“The increase from around 5.9 per cent before the pandemic highlights that people are now more likely to be working more than one job,” Mr Jarvis said.

– AAP

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