Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe responded to criticism of his closed-door meeting at investment bank Barrenjoey by pledging to avoid events at the firm “for quite some time.”
(Bloomberg) — Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe responded to criticism of his closed-door meeting at investment bank Barrenjoey by pledging to avoid events at the firm “for quite some time.”
The central bank chief said in a parliamentary hearing on Friday that he wouldn’t attend Barrenjoey events because he lost “trust” that the comments would remain private.
“If you speak to me, you want to have trust that I’m not going to go and blab to the press the next day, and I expect the same courtesy,” Lowe said.
The Barrenjoey meeting came two days after the central bank delivered its latest hike, fanning criticism from lawmakers and other commentators who’ve been pushing Lowe to speak more openly with the public rather than in private with bankers.
That’s despite the fact that the closed-door briefing on Feb. 9 sparked little market reaction and wasn’t unusual for a central bank that has regularly spoken of the benefits of its liaison meetings with bankers, businesses and employers.
“There’s nothing untoward here but we need to be able to have conversations with people without the other side of that conversation running off to the press,” Lowe said. “When that happens it destroys trust. There are consequences from that.”
Sydney-based Barrenjoey declined Bloomberg’s request for comment.
The governor didn’t directly accuse Barrenjoey of leaking and staff from other banks also attended the meeting.
Private events with market participants are not uncommon in Australia but give the impression that bigger firms are gaining exclusive access to information.
The Bank of England ceased off-the-record briefings between members of its rate-setting committee and individual private financial institutions in 2021 after public criticism, with the bank arguing ending the practice would improve transparency.
Lowe has been the target of growing criticism, with lawmakers from the Greens Party calling for him to be fired and some parliamentarians from the ruling Labor Party questioning whether his term should be extended.
On Wednesday, in his first public appearance of the year, Lowe brushed aside much of the criticism as “noise” that comes with any tightening cycle, saying the board was unaffected and remained determined to crush inflation.
READ MORE: Australian Job Market Very Tight, Inflation Still Hot
–With assistance from Harry Brumpton.
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