RBA boss Philip Lowe says household spending holds the key to post-COVID economic recovery

Australia has emerged from the first year of the COVID-19 crisis in much better shape than expected.

Not only has the nation (so far) escaped the large tolls of death and illness that plagued so many other countries, the economic damage from the lockdowns and other restrictions to contain the virus hasn’t been nearly as bad as feared.

Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe said the key economic indicator of unemployment was performing better than even the RBA’s most optimistic predictions.

“In our upside scenario, the unemployment rate was expected to end 2020 a little lower than 10 per cent, but still be around 7 per cent later this year,” he told journalists.

“Thankfully, the actual outcome for…