Skip to content

RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Statement on Monetary Policy – May 2006

List of tables

Go To

Chapters

Table 1: World GDP

Table 2: Europe GDP

Table 3: Changes in Monetary Policy

Table 4: Changes in Major Country Share Prices

Table 5: Change in US Dollar against Other Currencies

Table 6: Demand and Output

Table 7: House Prices

Table 8: Labour Market by State

Table 9: Commodity Prices

Table 10: Financial Aggregates

Table 11: Non-government Bond Issuance by Sector

Table 12: Measures of Consumer Prices

Table 13: Output Prices at Different Stages of Production

Table 14: Median Inflation Expectations

back to top

Boxes

Table D1: Comparison of Household Saving Rates

back to top
Table 1: World GDP
Year-average percentage change(a)
  2004 2005 2006 2007
    IMF forecasts (April 2006)
(a) Aggregates weighted by GDP at PPP exchange rates unless otherwise specified
(b) Weighted using market exchange rates
(c) Weighted using merchandise export shares
Sources: CEIC; IMF; RBA; Thomson Financial
United States 4.2 3.5 3.4 3.3
Euro area 1.8 1.4 2.0 1.9
Japan 2.3 2.7 2.8 2.1
China 10.1 9.9 9.5 9.0
Other east Asia(b) 5.9 4.8 5.2 4.9
India 7.4 8.0 7.3 7.0
Latin America 5.8 4.3 4.3 3.6
Emerging Europe 6.1 5.2 5.6 5.4
World 5.3 4.8 4.9 4.7
Australia’s trading partners(c) 4.9 4.4 4.4 4.2
back to top
Table 2: Europe GDP
Percentage change
  September quarter 2005 September quarter 2005 Year to December quarter 2005
Source: Thomson Financial
Euro area 0.7 0.3 1.8
– Germany 0.6 0.0 1.6
– France 0.7 0.4 1.5
– Italy 0.3 0.0 0.5
– Spain 0.9 0.9 3.5
– Netherlands 0.8 0.8 2.1
United Kingdom 0.5 0.6 1.8
back to top
Table 3: Changes in Monetary Policy
  Current level
 Per cent		 Most recent
change		 Expectations for
next 6 months
Sources: central banks; Bloomberg; Reuters
United States 4.75 Mar 06 ↑ 50 bps
Euro area 2.50 Mar 06 ↑ 50 bps
Japan 0.00 Mar 06 ↑ 10–25 bps
United Kingdom 4.50 Aug 05 no change
Canada 4.00 Apr 06 ↑ 25 bps
New Zealand 7.25 Dec 05 no change
back to top
Table 4: Changes in Major Country Share Prices
Per cent
  Since 2000
peak		 Since
2003 trough		 2005 Since
previous
Statement
Source: Bloomberg
United States
– Dow Jones −3 52 −1 5
– S&P 500 −14 64 3 4
– NASDAQ −54 82 1 2
Euro area
– STOXX −22 120 23 5
United Kingdom
– FTSE −12 85 17 5
Japan
– TOPIX −1 125 44 3
Canada
– TSE 300 8 97 22 5
Australia
– ASX 200 56 95 18 8
back to top
Table 5: Change in US Dollar against Other Currencies
  Since
USD peak
Jan 2002		 2005 Since last
Statement
Source: RBA
South Africa −48 12 –1
New Zealand −34 5 6
Australia −33 6 −3
Euro area −32 14 −5
Sweden −31 19 −4
Canada −31 −3 −3
South Korea −29 −2 −3
Switzerland −28 15 −5
United Kingdom −23 11 −5
Indonesia −16 6 −5
Thailand −15 5 −5
Japan −15 15 −5
Brazil −15 −12 −5
Singapore −14 2 −3
Taiwan −9 3 −2
India −7 4 1
Malaysia −5 −1 −3
China −3 −2 0
Philippines 1 −6 0
Mexico 20 −5 5
Majors TWI −28 8 −5
Broad TWI −17 3 −3
back to top
Table 6: Demand and Output
Percentage change
  March
qtr 2005		 June qtr
2005		 September
qtr 2005		 December
qtr 2005		 Year to
Dec qtr
2005
(a) Contributions to GDP growth
(b) Includes the statistical discrepancy
Source: ABS
Domestic final demand 0.2 2.1 0.6 1.4 4.4
Change in inventories(a) 0.7 −0.2 −0.1 −0.3 0.1
GNE(b) 0.8 1.3 0.6 0.9 3.6
Net exports(a) −0.1 −0.1 −0.4 −0.5 −1.1
GDP 0.7 1.3 0.3 0.5 2.7
Memo item:
Real GDP adjusted for 1.1 2.5 0.6 0.9 5.2
changes in terms of trade          
back to top
Table 7: House Prices
Percentage change
  APM REI Residex ABS
Mar qtr
2006		 Year to
Mar qtr		 Mar qtr
2006		 Year to
Mar qtr		 Mar qtr
2006(a)		 Year to
March		 Year to
Dec qtr
2005
(a) Three-month-ended
(b) Excludes Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin
Sources: ABS; APM; state REIs; RBA; Residex
Sydney −1.1 −3.8 .. .. −2.2 −3.5 −3.9
Melbourne −1.1 0.9 −3.1 4.2 5.9 5.5 2.9
Brisbane −1.1 0.5 .. .. 1.7 4.9 3.5
Adelaide 1.7 3.4 −0.1 2.7 .. .. 3.4
Perth 5.4 24.8 .. .. 10.1 24.4 22.5
Canberra −0.6 1.4 .. .. 5.0 7.5 0.8
Australia −0.1 1.7 .. .. 3.4(b) 5.8(b) 2.3
back to top
Table 8: Labour Market by State
Per cent
  Employment growth Unemployment rate
March
qtr 2006		 Year-ended
March qtr 2006		 March
qtr 2005		 March
qtr 2006
Source: ABS
NSW 0.2 1.2 5.3 5.3
Victoria 0.4 1.3 5.5 5.3
Queensland 0.4 1.7 4.6 5.3
WA 0.8 3.7 4.8 4.1
SA 0.2 1.3 5.4 5.2
Tasmania 0.1 2.9 5.7 6.5
Australia 0.3 1.6 5.1 5.2
back to top
Table 9: Commodity Prices
Percentage change; SDR
  Three months
to April 2006		 Year to
April 2006
(a) Latest available data are for February.
(b) Oil prices are not included in the RBA Index.
Sources: ABS; AWB; AWEX; Bloomberg; Meat and Livestock Australia; RBA
RBA Index 5.8 26.5
Rural 3.5 16.1
– Wheat 10.9 29.1
– Beef & veal −2.9 0.0
– Wool 6.7 −1.5
Base metals 21.5 56.2
– Aluminium 9.8 44.2
– Copper 34.6 96.4
– Nickel 23.0 16.2
Other resources 1.8 21.8
– Coking coal(a) −4.7 95.0
– Steaming coal(a) −4.8 6.6
– Iron ore(a) −4.1 66.2
– Gold 10.9 48.3
Memo item
Oil in US$(b) 6.6 31.3
back to top
Table 10: Financial Aggregates
Percentage change
  Average monthly growth
September quarter
2005		 December quarter
2005		 March quarter
2006
Source: RBA
Total credit 0.9 1.1 1.3
Household 0.8 1.0 1.2
– Housing 0.7 1.0 1.2
– Personal 0.8 0.4 1.0
Business 1.0 1.2 1.5
Broad money 0.5 0.1 0.6
back to top
Table 11: Non-government Bond Issuance by Sector
$ billion
Sector 2003 2004 2005 March
quarter
2006
Source: RBA
Bond issues by Australian entities
Onshore
Financial institutions 9.9 14.3 20.9 4.5
Non-financial corporates 5.6 8.0 9.3 1.9
Asset-backed 20.7 25.0 32.2 7.9
Total 36.1 47.3 62.4 14.3
Offshore
Financial institutions 51.5 64.9 52.0 25.4
Non-financial corporates 14.7 13.6 16.5 0.6
Asset-backed 24.3 29.8 25.6 6.2
Total 90.5 108.2 94.2 32.2
Total 126.6 155.5 156.6 46.4
A$ bond issues by non-resident entities
Onshore 7.1 21.3 26.2 15.9
Offshore 24.8 21.5 11.9 3.7
Total 31.9 42.9 38.1 19.6
back to top
Table 12: Measures of Consumer Prices
Percentage change
  Quarterly Year-ended
December
quarter
2005		 March
quarter
2006		 December
quarter
2005		 March
quarter
2006
(a) Based on the distribution of seasonally adjusted quarterly price changes.
(b) Volatile items are fruit, vegetables and petrol.
Sources: ABS; RBA
CPI 0.5 0.9 2.8 3.0
– Tradables 0.0 0.8 2.0 2.8
– Tradables (ex food and petrol) −0.5 0.4 −0.3 0.3
Non-tradables 0.8 0.9 3.5 3.1
Underlying measures
Weighted median(a) 0.7 0.7 2.6 2.8
Trimmed mean(a) 0.5 0.8 2.3 2.6
CPI ex volatile items(b) 0.4 0.8 2.3 2.2
back to top
Table 13: Output Prices at Different Stages of Production
Percentage change
  March quarter 2006 Year to March quarter 2006
(a) Excluding exports
Sources: ABS; RBA
Preliminary 1.6 8.6
– Domestically produced 1.5 7.5
– Imported 2.7 16.3
– Excluding oil 1.4 5.6
Intermediate 1.5 6.9
– Domestically produced 1.4 6.3
– Imported 2.8 11.5
– Excluding oil 1.3 4.9
Final(a) 0.8 3.8
– Domestically produced 0.7 4.1
– Imported 0.8 2.0
– Excluding oil 0.7 3.1
back to top
Table 14: Median Inflation Expectations
Per cent
  Year to December 2006 Year to December 2007
November
2005		 February
2006		 May
2006		 February
2006		 May
2006
(a) RBA survey
(b) Workplace Research Centre
Market economists(a) 2.6 2.8 2.9 2.6 2.6
Union officials(b) 3.5 3.0 3.3 3.0 3.2
back to top
Table D1: Comparison of Household Saving Rates
Annual average 1994–2004, per cent
  Conventional saving rate Change in net financial assets as
percentage of household
disposable income
(a) Average 1994–2003
(b) Gross saving rather than net saving
Sources: ABS; Bundesbank; OECD; RBA; US Federal Reserve
Australia 2.9 18.5
Canada 5.1 13.5
France(a) 12.0 15.3
Germany 10.2 11.1
Italy 13.2 19.1
Japan(a) 9.7 10.9
United Kingdom 6.8(b) 19.1
United States 3.1 23.6
back to top