QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Dr CHALMERS (Rankin—Treasurer) (14:32): I thank the member for Gilmore for her question and for all the work that she does in her beautiful part of Australia. I can inform the House that, today, the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Board has held interest rates steady at 4.35 per cent. This will come as a relief to Australians with a mortgage.
It is a welcome decision at a time of heightened uncertainty in the world and persistent pressures in our own economy at home as well. This is the second rates decision since the budget, and, on both occasions, we've seen rates hold steady. This decision reflects the fact that inflation has been coming in well under the Reserve Bank and Treasury forecasts.
In the Reserve Bank's Statement on monetary policy released today, they have downgraded forecasts for underlying inflation, and they have upgraded forecasts for growth. In June, inflation fell again. That means that inflation has now moderated for three months in a row, but it is still higher than we'd like.
There's still a lot of uncertainty going forward, and we know that people are still under pressure. That recent inflation data has been better than expected, but the war in the Middle East is putting upward pressure on prices, and it's weighing on growth around the world and in our own economy as well. We did already have an inflation challenge in our economy, but the conflict is making that harder.
That's why, from an economic point of view, a proper enduring end to this war cannot come soon enough. We desperately need to see an end to this war in the Middle East. Inflation has gone up since March in most major advanced economies, but it's come down here in Australia.
When we came to office, inflation was north of six per cent and rapidly rising. It's now much lower than that. It is similar when it comes to underlying inflation.
The government's responsible economic management has meant the budget is much stronger and debt is much lower than what we inherited. That's why, just last week, S&P Global, the ratings agency, reaffirmed Australia's AAA credit rating. That means we are one of only nine countries in the world with a AAA sovereign credit rating from all three major ratings agencies.
We've also got lower gross debt than every major advanced economy. We know that people are still under pressure, despite this welcome decision from the independent Reserve Bank today. It is a welcome decision.
It comes at a time of heightened global economic uncertainty. The government, for its part, will continue to manage the budget responsibly and will continue to help people with the cost of living in an ongoing and responsible way. I have heard those opposite interjecting throughout the course of this answer.
They were desperately hoping for an interest rate rise today, and they are desperately disappointed that they didn't get one. That's the difference between this side and that side. We're for cost-of-living relief.
They're for higher interest rates.