Biden, Xi Praise Blinken’s Beijing Visit

Members commenced their discussion of the global economy by noting that inflation in many economies remained well above central banks’ targets. Although headline inflation had continued to decline as energy prices fell and food price inflation eased, members noted that core inflation had remained sticky and shown little sign of easing. Services inflation, which had become the primary source of inflationary pressures across advanced economies, had continued at a high rate. This partly reflected strong wages growth, which remained above rates consistent with inflation targets in many economies. This, in combination with subdued growth in labour productivity, had resulted in a rapid rise in unit labour costs over the preceding year. Members acknowledged the implications of this for Australia, given the high degree of commonality in inflation experience globally since the pandemic. While central banks in advanced economies expected inflation to return to target, most do not see this as likely to occur in the coming year. Members noted that economic growth in advanced economies was slowing gradually as contractionary monetary policy settings took effect. GDP in major advanced economies had risen only slightly in the March quarter and had declined in some euro area countries. Consumption growth had been subdued in the March quarter and indications were that this had continued into the June quarter. Business investment was yet to surpass pre-pandemic levels in most advanced economies. Other indicators of economic activity had been more resilient in recent months. Housing prices appeared to have stabilised in several countries, following significant declines over 2022, and survey measures of business conditions pointed to services sector activity having increased further in May. In China, the growth momentum had waned in April after a strong bounce-back following the end of pandemic restrictions and the reo tweet at 9:40pm: RBA: Arguments Between Rate Hike, Rate Pause `Finely Balanced’ $AUDUSD #CPI #Inflation https://t.co/jLc4jMW7WA tweet at 9:33pm: RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA MINUTES: BOARD CONSIDERED RATE RISE OF 25BP OR HOLDING STEADY AND RECONSIDERING AT LATER MEETING tweet at 9:34pm: RBA: Econ. Still Looks To Be On Narrow Path To Soft Landing - No Sign Yet Of Services Infl. Moderating, May Persist - Recent Data Suggested Infl. Risks Shifted To Upside - June Hike Would Boost Confidence In CPI Return To Target $AUDUSD #CPI #Inflation tweet at 9:35pm: RBA: Pause Case Based On Past Hikes Sharply Slowing Economy - Rate Hike Based On Inflation Taking Longer To Hit Target - Little Spare Capacity In Economy, Unemployment Very Low - Considerable Uncertainty On Household Spend, Household Stress $AUDUSD #CPI #Inflation

Japan's Industry Minister represents real businesses that are impacted by forex swings, so he has a case to comment. Earlier we had the same sort of remark from the finance ...