Despite withering criticism in recent months, central bank chief says he won't step down
Despite withering criticism, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe says he has “no intention” of resigning and “hopes” that he will be reappointed when his seven-year term ends next September.
Lowe has been slammed in recent months for the RBA’s failure to foresee the recent spike in inflation, and for repeatedly hiking interest rates after spending most of last year insisting that rates would likely stay low until at least 2024, The Australian reported.
Responding to a question about his future with the central bank during a payment system industry summit Wednesday, Lowe said “certainly I know there have been calls for me to resign.”
However, Lowe said he intended to remain in the job.
“As I’ve said before, I have no intention of resigning,” he said. “I have an important job to do, it’s a responsible job, and I intend to do it. We’ve got to get inflation down, and that’s my focus. And I will keep doing that until at least mid-September next year.”
Lowe said he didn’t know if he would be at the summit next year, saying the decision about whether to reappoint him once his term expires next year was “a matter for the government.”
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“My term finishes in September next year. I’ve got an important job to do at least up until then and I intend to do it,” he said. “Whether I can join you for a seventh time is not in my control. I hope so, but we’ll see.”
The RBA has admitted that its insistence through most of last year that rates would stay at a record low of 0.1% was seen by many as a “broken promise” – and Lowe himself recently apologised to Australians who made financial decisions based on those statements.
However, Lowe said this “forward guidance” was always contingent on forecasts that predicted inflation would stay low for the foreseeable future, The Australian reported. Those forecasts, obviously, turned out to be flawed.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently suggested that Lowe’s job could be on the line, depending upon the results of a wide-ranging review of the RBA announced in July. Chalmers said he will take the review’s findings, due in March, into consideration when he decides whether to extend Lowe’s term.
If Chalmers decides to bring in a new boss at the central bank, Lowe would be the first RBA governor since Bernie Fraser in 1996 not to get another three years on his term, The Australian reported.
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