Economics

Australia's Rate-Call Doyen Now Sees RBA Cutting Twice This Year

Westpac’s Bill Evans, first to call 2011 cuts, is at it again
Aussie jobs market still shows strong hiring, low unemployment

Bill Evans of Westpac explains why he expects the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates twice this year.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Michael Heath

February 21, 2019 at 2:34 AM UTC

Updated on

February 21, 2019 at 4:51 AM UTC

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The doyen of Australian interest-rate forecasters has shifted ground and now predicts the Reserve Bank will cut twice to counter slower growth and higher unemployment.

Bill Evans’s announcement Thursday that he expects the RBA to reduce the cash rate by a quarter-percentage point in August and November came less than an hour after employment data showed strong hiring in January. But underscoring the Westpac Banking Corp. chief economist’s sway in the market, the currency swiftly erased gains spurred by the jobs report.