2019.10.1806:36:00UTC+00RBA Chief Says Negative Interest Rates Extraordinarily Unlikely

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said negative interest rates are extraordinarily unlikely.

"I'm not going to speculate on negative interest rates or quantitative easing in Australia, other than to say negative interest rates are extraordinarily unlikely in my country," he told a forum at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Washington.

"I don't think it's the right assumption to make that we are going to have a lot more work to do to get inflation back to target and growth back to trend," he said.

The economy has been through a very soft patch over the last year but it is gradually improving and lower interest rates are working. He expects Australia to return to trend growth over the next year.

Further, he noted that housing market has turned around, which is set to support household consumption.