Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe declares he has ‘no intention’ of resigning

Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe has hinted he could be replaced next year after repeatedly promising to leave interest rates on hold until 2024.

The economist, on a $1.038million total pay package, hinted 2023 could be his last.

Dr Lowe’s term finishes in September 2023, by which time he would have been governor for seven years.

‘I’ve got an important job to do, at least up until then,’ he told the Australian Payments Network Summit lunch on Wednesday.

With Treasurer Jim Chalmers ordering a review into the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy setting, Dr Lowe hinted this year could be his last. 

‘Whether I can join you for a seventh time is not in my control. 

‘I hope so, but we’ll see.’

Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe has declared he has no intention of resigning despite repeatedly promising interest rates would remain on hold until 2024

Dr Lowe expressed his determination to stay on as told a Sydney lunch about his future.  

‘Certainly, I know there have been calls for me to resign,’  he said.

‘As I said before, I’ve no intention of resigning, I have an important job to do, it’s a responsible job, and I intend to do it. 

‘We’ve got to get inflation down and that’s my focus and I will keep doing that until at least mid-September next year.’

Dr Lowe last year repeatedly suggested interest rates would stay on hold at a record-low of 0.1 per cent until 2024 ‘at the earliest’ but that was before Russia’s Ukraine invasion in February pushed up crude oil prices. 

The Reserve Bank began hiking rates in May and has since raised the cash rate eight consecutive times, taking it to a 10-year high of 3.1 per cent.

A borrower with an average, $600,000 mortgage has now seen their monthly repayments climb by $904 to $3,210, from $2,306, as Commonwealth Bank interest rates have climbed from 2.29 per cent to 4.97 per cent, as of December 16.

Inflation in the year to September surged by a 32-year high of 7.3 per cent and the RBA is expecting it to hit 8 per cent in December for the first time since 1990.