The Reserve Bank has highlighted the plight of
disadvantaged indigenous Australians and sustained living standards that are well below
the rest of society.
The observations came after the central bank held it’s
July board meeting in Darwin for the first time since 1968 where it decided the
cut the cash rate for the second consecutive month to a new record low of one
percent.
“Members observed that the broad statistics on the labour
market for the Northern Territory masked the relative disadvantage of the
Indigenous population,” according to the minutes from the meeting.
“Indigenous Australians were less likely to complete
school and more likely to experience poor health.
“These measures of Indigenous disadvantage were
particularly acute in remote locations where it is more difficult to deliver
services.”
While the Northern Territory’s unemployment rate is below
the national average,, the minutes say that employment has fallen due to a
downturn in the mining cycle.
“This had been accompanied by large flows of people
moving to other parts of the country,” the minutes say.
In continuing concerns about the global economy, the
minutes say risks from trade tensions between the US and China “remain high”.
The minutes acknowledge that risks to global growth and
subdued inflation have increased expectations that global central banks will
easy monetary police.
The US Federal Reserve is on track to cut rates in the
coming months and the Reserve Bank says markets have priced in a further
easing.
Some economists are prediction an eventual cash rates
next year as low as 0.5 percent.
“The Board will .. adjust monetary policy off needed to
support sustainable growth in the economy, “ the minutes say.
The RBA’s caution comes as day after China’s economic
growth in the three months to June came in at 6.2 percent, the slower pace one
of the result of the its trade impasse with the United States.
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