RBA’s Lowe Hails QE, Warns on Premature Stimulus Withdrawal

Reserve Bank of Australia chief Philip Lowe praised the country’s quantitative-easing program and warned it would be premature to consider withdrawing monetary stimulus when global peers are extending theirs, and with domestic unemployment and inflation still far from the target.

“The bond-purchase program has helped to lower interest rates and has meant that the Australian dollar is lower than it otherwise would have been,” Lowe said in a speech Wednesday. “In terms of the most important consideration -- the outlooks for inflation and jobs -- we remain well short of our goals.”