Key events
Retailers plead for RBA not to hike rates
Stronger consumer spending should not be an excuse for the Reserve Bank to potentially lift interest rates ahead of Christmas, retail bodies have warned.
Australian Associated Press reports that Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said the Reserve Bank needs to offer a rate cut when it meets to discuss interest rates on 5 November.
“Whilst there is great resilience within retail, we know there are many businesses in the sector that are doing it tough, especially small businesses,” he said.
“This remains one of retail’s most difficult years – with a continued slowdown in discretionary spend, high business costs along with ongoing challenges.”
Retail trade figures for August revealed a 0.7% increase for the month and 3.1% for the year, with warmer weather driving discretionary spending on outdoor items as well as dining out.
The spike followed a sluggish 0.1% rise in July.
The National Retail Association interim chief executive, Lindsay Carroll, said while August’s figures were trending in the right direction, the retail sector was still struggling.
“The industry is at the mercy of consumer sentiment, that’s just the nature of retail. Business owners need every win they can get in the lead-up to Christmas,” she said.
“We are asking our policymakers to give retailers some breathing room to recover during this year’s holiday sale season.”
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be running through the top overnight stories before Emily Wind takes the reins.
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The retailers’ peak body has pleaded today with the Reserve Bank not to raise rates before Christmas – and consider lowering them instead – despite stronger-than-expected consumer spending. We have more coming up on this, plus why supermarket superprofits could be fuelling inflation.
