As can be seen in the right panel of Chart 6, the year-onyear rate of change in nominal wages has been negative since April 2020. In particular, it saw a larger decline again at the end of 2020, primarily reflecting a decrease in special cash earnings; how this will affect future consumption is a matter of concern.
For this morning’s business, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I will highlight the key elements of the Monetary Policy Statement for 2012. These are: the monetary policy framework and objectives; inflation trends; and the conduct of monetary policy in 2011. I will also outline the inflation outlook and the monetary policy stance for this year.