Australia 01 (May 08 - Jan 11)

[winston]

Confirmed. Up 25 basis point to 3.75%.

At least they are trying to control inflation unlike those guys in HK ..

[millionairemind]

Dec 10, 2009
Aussie jobless rate falls

SYDNEY - AUSTRALIAN unemployment fell to 5.7 per cent in November, beating analyst forecasts, official figures showed on Thursday.

The number of people in full-time work rose by 30,800 to a seasonally adjusted 7,627,000, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

Economists had expected unemployment to rise to 5.9 per cent from the 5.8 per cent posted in October.

Australia last month predicted the jobless rate would peak at 6.75 per cent in mid-2010, sharply downgrading a forecast of 8.5 per cent made in the May budget.

Australia was the only developed economy to avoid a technical recession during the global slowdown and posted world-beating growth of 0.6 per cent in the June quarter. -- AFP

[winston]

J.P. Morgan: Australian Economy To Continue Growth In 2010
1/12/2010 6:01 AM ET

(RTTNews) - The Australian economy should continue its recovery into 2010 led by a rebound in private investment and a recovery in exports, said Stephen Walters, an economist at J.P. Morgan Bank in Sydney.

Australia was among the few nations that escaped a technical recession in 2009. Aggressive and well-timed pump priming by the government and unprecedented interest rate cuts from the central bank played key roles in Australia's resilience in face of the global downturn, the economist wrote in a recent note.

Walters expects the Australian economy to build on its fortune and improve markedly in 2010 boosted by the lingering effects of supportive policy, albeit only to a still-subtrend 3%. With the global economy expected to grow 3.4% this year, the economist noted that the Australian economy could end up underperforming other comparable economies.

Having avoided the deep downturns suffered elsewhere, the flipside is that Australia will miss out on the sharp rebound, the economist said. More importantly, however, the country does not have to go through the inevitable structural drag that follows a deep recession.

According to Walters, the improvement in 2010 will be driven not by highly-indebted households but by the corporate sector. The economist foresees a challenging year for Australian households with interest rates and unemployment on the rise.

Australia's business investment is forecast to boom in 2010 led by a resurgence in overseas demand, especially from China. China's seemingly insatiable demand for Australia's plentiful mining commodities could contribute a great deal to gross domestic product growth this year.

Walters expects the Reserve Bank of Australia to continue unwinding policy support gradually by hiking interest rates by another 25 basis points in February. Overall, he foresees the bank to bring up the benchmark rate by 125 basis points to a year-end target rate of 5.00%.

Source: RTT

[Aspellian]

Noticed that Australian stock market seems to be in a free fall (1% to 2% drop in last few days) - seems to be very much pegged to China market. (prob of mining companies and China's commodities appetite)...

when china is down, lots of commodities related play also affected.

so all those agri counters in STI could be affected eventually.

[kennynah]

this image always comes to mind....whenever, i hear the word australia...

[winston]

RBA left Interest Rates unchanged at 3.75%

[millionairemind]

Australia close to defaulting on debts: Joyce ??

Posted Tue Feb 9, 2010 1:00pm AEDT

Opposition finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce is courting controversy again, warning that Australia is getting to the point where it will not be able to repay its overseas debt.

Senator Joyce says the Federal Government is borrowing billions of dollars from overseas to fund stimulus spending and programs like the National Broadband Network.

And he has questioned whether the Government is in a position to repay those loans.

"We're going into hock to our eyeballs to people overseas," he said.

"You've got to ask the question: how far into debt do you want to go? We are getting to a point where we can't repay it.

"Let's look at exactly what they're doing now and ask this very simple question: are you paying back your money, are you even meeting your interest component, and can you keep the debt stable?

"Or is the debt racing ahead by more than even the interest expense? And if it is, any household budget will tell you that's a very dangerous place to be."

Senator Joyce has already been attacked by Labor for suggesting the states are close to being unable to repay their debts.

Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has rejected Senator Joyce's latest comments.

He says Australia's public debt levels are among the lowest in the developed world and the Government has a plan to pay off the debt in just over a decade.

"Barnaby Joyce's comments again today show he is totally unfit for any kind of position of economic responsibility in this country," he said.

"They are totally ridiculous and grossly irresponsible."

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the remarks showed that Senator Joyce would be a risk to the economy if he was installed as finance minister.

"This is a most fundamentally irresponsible remark by someone who puts himself forward as the alternative finance minister of Australia, a man put in that position by a leader of the Opposition who says he has no interest in economics whatsoever," said Mr Rudd.

"So you ask sometimes about risk for the future, risk to the economy. Risk is here personified in an alternative finance minister who thinks you can play fast and loose with public language on Australia's sovereign debt."

[millionairemind]

March 1, 2010, 3.22 pm (Singapore time)

Australia property sales hit record

SYDNEY - Australian real estate prices are rising strongly and show no signs of abating, analysts said on Monday, after weekly sales in one state hit a record A$1.025 billion (US$920 million).

The Real Estate Institute of Victoria said last week saw 'the largest dollar volume of transactions ever recorded' amid growing confidence in the economy as people took advantage of low interest rates.

'We've seen more physical sales in a week period, but never have they passed the billion dollar mark,' research manager Robert Larocca told AFP.

'So that's partly a sign of how strong the market is and it's also a sign that people are spending more than they have in the past.'

Mr Larocca said the surge in sales was the result of historically low interest rates following the global financial crisis and the growing population in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, outstripping available housing.

'People are confident, they are confident because the economy is going much better than they expected it to,' he added.

David Airey, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), said Melbourne was one of the country's strongest markets but noted that Australian property prices were in general very strong and rising.

'The property market in all Australian capital cities has had a rapid recovery from mid-2009 on, and noticeably in Melbourne and Sydney with property prices rising quite significantly over that six month period,' he said.

'I think that will be reflected again this quarter with further growth in all capital cities.'

Mr Airey said Australians felt property was a safe investment, with median house prices rising by 18.5 per cent in Melbourne and around the country by more than 12 per cent in 2009.

'And it's difficult to see this current period of growth stalling, unless it's caused by external factors and significant higher interest rates,' he said.

The average Australian house cost A$334,100 in 2005 and the REIA estimate for 2010 is A$481,310. -- AFP

[millionairemind]

HOME > BREAKING NEWS > MONEY > STORY

Mar 2, 2010
Australia ups rates to 4%
SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA lifted interest rates to 4.0 per cent on Tuesday and warned they would continue higher as growth gets back on track and unemployment stabilises after the financial crisis.

The central bank said rates would need to return to 'average' levels after Australia escaped the global downturn without entering recession thanks to strong stimulus spending and huge Asian demand for its resources.

'The board judges that with growth likely to be close to trend and inflation close to target over the coming year, it is appropriate for interest rates to be closer to average,' the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement.

'Today's decision is a further step in that process.' Australia led the developed world in lifting rates after the financial crisis, raising them 25 basis points to 3.25 per cent in October and again in November and December before pausing last month.

The Reserve Bank is now reversing its emergency cuts of late 2008 and 2009, when interest rates were slashed by 425 basis points to a five-decade low of 3.00 per cent as the world economy tanked.

'In Australia, economic conditions in 2009 were stronger than expected, after a mild downturn a year ago. The rate of unemployment appears to have peaked at a much lower level than earlier expected,' the bank said. 'Credit for housing has been expanding at a solid pace, and dwelling prices have risen significantly over the past year.' -- AFP

[iam802]

Mortgage pain on the increase

http://www.smh.com.au/business/mortgage ... -q0q3.html

The number of households facing mortgage stress has risen to a 16-month high with increases in interest costs outweighing improvements on the jobs front.

Some 218,700 Australian households were at risk of having to sell, refinance or lose their homes in February, according to the Fujitsu Mortgage Stress-O-Meter, up 2 per cent from the previous month.

''Across Australia the average loan size since 2005 has risen by 40 per cent underlining that affordability remains a major issue,'' said Fujitsu's executive director Martin North. ''As interest rates rise, this leverage effect will have a significant impact on the local economy.''

Overall, the number of households experiencing ''some degree of mortgage pain'' rose by 0.7 per cent in February, to about 581,000 - the most since December 2008. For historical comparison, about 900,000 households were in stress when interest rates stood at 7.25 per cent in August 2008, Fujitsu said.

The survey includes data collected after last week's hike in official interest rates by the Reserve Bank - its fourth increase since October. The commercial banks passed on the higher lending costs within days, with the impact felt heavily by many borrowers who had just entered the housing market, Fujitsu said.

''Most people (reporting stress) have entered the market recently when prices shot through the roof,'' said Mr North. ''It's those people who were entering the market in last 18 months who are most exposed.''

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