Is Australia Next in Competitive Currency Debasement?
The Sydney Morning Herald reports RBA May Have to Cap Australian Dollar Ross Garnaut, one of the authors of the float of the Australian dollar 30 years ago, warns that the Reserve Bank might have to consider intervening to push the currency down to minimise the recession he sees coming as the mining boom goes bust. Professor Garnaut, of the University of Melbourne, says he would rather see the Reserve cushion the economy’s looming fall and bring down the overvalued dollar by cutting interest rates to bring them closer to those of other Western countries. While the International Monetary Fund forecast Australia will stay on its present track, with growth of 3 per cent this year and 3.3 per cent next year, Professor Garnaut warned that mining investment would fall from 8 per cent of gross domestic product back to its long-term average of 2 per cent.
