I want to emphasise that the discretion we have and our broad mandate to promote the economic welfare of the Australian people do not constitute a licence for the Reserve Bank Board to pursue or advocate economic policies outside our area. Our focus is on inflation control, the labour market, the payments system and financial stability.
The rates of real GDP growth for the United States and the euro area in the same quarter were minus 6.2 percent and minus 5.7 percent, respectively, and the fact that Japan's economy contracted more sharply underscores the severity of the country's current economic conditions.