Rapid budget repair unlikely as federal election campaign looms. I speak with independent economist Saul Eslake

The board of the Reserve Bank holds its final meeting for the year on Tuesday as it continues to manage the economic fallout from the pandemic.

While there are early signs that a recovery might be underway after damaging lockdowns, there's still a lot of uncertainty especially with the emergence of the Omicron variant.

That means budget repair is likely to be on the backburner especially with a federal election looking likely for May.

I speak with independent economist Saul Eslake who tells me the Reserve Bank needs to slowly normalise interest rates to prepare for the the next crisis.