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Showing 41 - 50 of 2991 results for Benjamin Ong

Chief economist update: Home sweet home

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 7 JUN 2021
"Boom boom boom boom!" - Vengaboys The Australian property market should adopt this as its official anthem. The property craze in this Land Down Under is best portrayed by an article in the Daily Telegraph telling the story about "a mouldy 1970s house ...

Chief economist update: A delicate balancing act

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 4 JUN 2021
"The demand picture has shown clear signs of improvement." So declared Saudi Arabia's oil minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations met and decided to gradually increase oil production in July. The OPEC+'s ...

Chief economist update: Australia on top

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 3 JUN 2021
In the words of Frank Sinatra, Australia's now "A-number one, top of the list, head of the heap, king of the hill..." Ol' blue eyes was, of course, singing about the Big Apple (New York) but comparing apples with apples, Australia's on top. ...

Chief economist update: RBA cash rate on ice until 2024

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 2 JUN 2021
Except to reinforce its message that interest rates will remain at record lows "until 2024 at the earliest", the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) June board meeting was largely a ho-hum affair. As expected, the RBA left monetary policy settings ...

Chief economist update: OECD upgrades global growth but advises continued policy support

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 1 JUN 2021
"The global economy has now returned to pre-pandemic activity levels." This was what the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) latest 'Economic Outlook' report revealed as it upgraded its projections for the world ...

Chief economist update: The UK's going OK

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 31 MAY 2021
The country hasn't fully opened yet but easing restrictions, increased rate of vaccinations and stronger consumer and business spending combined to speed up the UK's recovery. This is underscored by the latest IHS Markit/CIPS PMI survey. Preliminary ...

Chief economist update: Victoria's victory against the virus voided

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 28 MAY 2021
Australia's state of Victoria is back in lockdown. So are Victorians' irritation and anger at having their lives and livelihood restricted for the fourth time since the coronavirus began early last year. So are estimates of the cost to the state ...

Chief economist update: RBNZ will run out of patience next year

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 27 MAY 2021
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) kept the official cash rate unchanged at 0.25%, maintained the existing LSAP programme, and retained the existing Funding for Lending Programme (FLP) conditions at its 26 May Board meeting. Same old, same old. ...

Chief economist update: China and Australia's interdependence

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 26 MAY 2021
While China continues to ramp up its attempts to bring Australia to heel through rhetoric, threats and measures limiting/banning imports of Australian products - from barley to lobsters to wine - into its shores, China remains our top export market. ...

Chief economist update: Twist in tail of Aussie economic revival

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 25 MAY 2021
Australia's economy, just like its US and European counterparts, is progressing nicely, thank you very much. "Australian private sector growth eases from record but remains elevated," sums up Markit Economics' findings for the month of May. ...