The Latest Breaking News from the Reserve Bank

The Reserve Bank is unlikely to give interest rate relief to borrowers at the September meeting as Australia's inflation rate still has fight left in it.

Senior minister Bill Shorten says it's unclear how much of an impact the US Federal Reserve's interest rates cut will have on Australia's economy.

The federal opposition has torpedoed Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ attempt to get a bipartisan deal to install a specialist monetary policy board in the Reserve Bank, claiming the reform would enable the treasurer to “stack” the new board.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has distanced himself from the strident attack his one-time boss Wayne Swan launched on the Reserve Bank, which the former treasurer accused of “putting economic dogma over rational decision-making”.

So far we have not gone into recession – but only because our population has grown and the government has kept spending

The latest national accounts show the Australian economy is struggling. It’s what you would expect after the sharpest series of interest rate rises on record, and is more or less what the Reserve Bank was trying to achieve to bring down inflation.

You head to the register at the cafe to pay for your lunch, swipe your card and suddenly realise you’ve been hit with an extra small but unexpected charge.

The economy is stuck in the slow lane and Treasurer Jim Chalmers says that's by design, with higher interest rates necessary to tame inflation.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers mightn’t have expected his weekend comment – made ahead of expected low growth figures later this week – that interest rate rises were “smashing” the Australian economy to set off the reaction it has. After all, it’s been something of a Chalmers mantra.