The Statement on Monetary Policy (SoMP) is released each quarter and it is closely watched for the updates to the RBA’s own forecasts. However, the very first sentence of the “Outlook” section states, “The forecasts for global and domestic growth are little changed from those presented in the May Statement on Monetary Policy.”
In a speech to the Anika Foundation in Sydney earlier in the week, RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the Bank’s forecasts would be not be changed in any dramatic way. At the time he said, “The RBA will be releasing its latest forecasts for the economy on Friday. The outlook for GDP growth is little changed from that we have had for some time.”

As it turns out, the RBA has tinkered with several of its forecasts for both headline and underlying inflation as well as two of its GDP forecasts. The reduction of its forecast of inflation for the 2018 calendar year was flagged at Philip Lowe’s Anika Foundation speech on the back of lower prices for electricity, child care and some state government services. In addition, headline inflation for the 2019 financial year was also trimmed by 0.25%.