Australia’s Treasurer Peter Costello says he would like the Reserve Bank governor Ian Macfarlane to continue working with the Government once his time in the job ends.

Mr Macfarlane’s term will come to an end end in October this year.

The Treasurer would not be drawn today on just when a replacement will be named but paid tribute to the role the current governor has played.
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New Zealand’s central bank has kept its official interest rate steady at 7.25 percent despite slowing economic growth, citing a worse-than-expected outlook for inflation.

Rising oil prices and a declining New Zealand dollar (NZD) is expected to see inflation rise to 3.9 percent this quarter, Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard said. Earlier forecasts had seen inflation peaking at 3.4 percent.
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The South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) decided to hike the key interest rate by 50bp to 7.50% at today’s monetary committee meeting - the decision was a bolt from the blue.

The decision likely came as a reaction to increasing inflationary pressures in the economy as a result of strong domestic demand and high oil prices. Adding to South Africa’s woes of late have been the recent slide in the rand, which has been following commodity prices south, increased global aversion to risky emerging markets and last but not least the worsening current account deficit.
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