All members of RBA board to continue to set rates after reforms, Australia Treasurer says By Reuters

By Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Friday all members of the current Reserve Bank of Australia board will move to a new rate-setting board unless they request not to, as part of a reform of the central bank.

Chalmers said he would also amend a proposal to water down the government’s veto power of the RBA, after the opposition Liberal party objected to both changes.

“I want these changes to be above and beyond partisan politics. I want them to be bipartisan, and that’s what’s driven me at every stage,” Chalmers told a press conference on Friday.

Chalmers said he hoped to legislate the changes through parliament by the end of the year, to take effect early next year.