Weekly Update: 25.08.22

“The opportunity presented by this Summit, and the White Paper beyond it, is one of finding economic consensus and charting a sensible pathway which lifts the quality of life for all Australians. One which not only seizes every chance to grow wealth and prosperity, but one which reduces, rather than increases, inequality. Not an easy task.” 

– ABA CEO Anna Bligh, AFR, 25 August 2022

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Parliamentary Update:

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh announced that a public consultation paper on crypto ‘token mapping’ will be released soon.
• Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones tabled the ASIC Effectiveness and Capability Review undertaken by the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority (FRAA).
• Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh released the National Ocean Ecosystem Account which collects information on carbon storage and coastal protection benefits of Australia’s mangroves and seagrass, known as ‘blue carbon’ ecosystems.

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Economic Update:

• The number of actively trading Australian businesses grew by 7% in 2021-22 to more than 2.56 million. Key points:
  • the net increase of 167,646 was nearly double the growth of businesses in 2020-21 (87,806) and quadruple 2019-20 (45,450)
  • growth was largest among non-employing businesses (140,402) after having shrunk in 2020-21 (-31,056) 
  • growth was largest in Victoria with 71,444 more businesses (11% increase).
• Construction saw a net increase of 33,452 to 445,253 businesses. Professional, Scientific and Technical Services increased 16,595 to 331,918, and Transport, Postal and Warehousing increased 16,530 to 212,333.

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International Update:

• Saudi Arabia is ramping up green manufacturing capabilities, drawing in lithium miners and battery makers. The lithium in the salty brine byproduct around its oilfields is becoming a key source for the metal. The Kingdom has announced $6 billion in mining projects, and wants 30% of cars on its capital city’s roads to be electric by the end of this decade. Australian firms are developing processing and manufacturing plants.
• The Euro has hit a two-decade low. The latest fall reflects concerns about the energy crisis and a broad rise in the dollar turbocharged by expectations the Fed will raise interest rates more aggressively than the ECB.
• There are reports of state-owned Chinese banks inflating their loan numbers to appease government demands to increase credit to the economy. The PBOC cut its key rates by 10 basis points earlier this month, as the economy faces a record jobless rate of 20% for those aged 16-24.

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Regulatory Update:

• Treasury released its open finance draft designation to extend the CDR to non-bank lending. The designation proposes to include Buy-Now-Pay-Later data, which means BNPL providers will now need to share data. Banks will also need to set up data sharing under this dataset. Final Report
• The ACCC has issued a warning on the significant rise in ‘Hi Mum’ scams in recent months. More than 1,150 Australians fell victim to this scam in the first seven months of 2022, with reported total losses of $2.6 million.

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Communications Update:

• Anna Bligh’s Op-Ed on the upcoming Jobs+Skills Summit appeared in the Australian Financial Review, outlining the banking industry’s willingness to work with the wider community to produce long-lasting solutions.
• Anna Bligh’s interview on Sky News was reported on in other media.
• The ABA met with key NZ banking sector stakeholders this week to compare and contrast key policy areas across jurisdictions, with a primary focus on the principles-based NZ Banking Code of Practice.
• The ABA attended the Disaster Resilience Conference in Adelaide – firming up relationships in the disaster resilience community and sharing findings. The session highlighted opportunities for the future.

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Read the full Update

Aug 25 2022Weekly Update