invest. as we have this discussion, it is also important that we keep focused on the other issues i just touched on, as these areas play an important role in building durable comparative advantage and prosperity. i would like to finish with a few words about the role of the rba in contributing to a positive investment climate. we obviously have no role in influencing the structural considerations that i just spoke about. we do, though, have an influence on the overall environment within which business investment decisions are made. at the highest level we seek to be a source of stability and confidence. having strong credible institutions in the country helps provide the community with a degree of confidence. we seek to build and maintain this credibility through developing a reputation for being a central bank that is transparent, independent, pragmatic and analytical. beyond this contribution, the investment climate is obviously better if we are able to deliver on our core goals of monetary and financial stability. investors should have confidence that, over time, cpi inflation in australia will average between 2 and 3 per cent. they can expect some variation from year to year, but over the medium term the average inflation rate will be 2 point something. as i have spoken about on previous occasions, we pursue that objective in a way that promotes sustainable growth in the economy and pays close attention to financial stability risks. you may have noticed that at yesterday's meeting, the reserve bank board left the cash rate unchanged at 1½ per cent, where it has been since august 2016. our assessment is that the economy is moving in the right direction. we expect stronger growth in 2018 than in 2017 and a further reduction in the unemployment rate. we also expect inflation to increase a little from its current low rate. these developments should help support the climate for business investment. with the economy moving in the right direction, and interest rates still quite low, it is likely that the next move in interest rates in australia will be up, not down. having said that, the expected progress in reducing unemployment and having inflation return to target is likely to be only gradual. with only gradual progress expected, the board does not see a strong case for a near - term adjustment of monetary policy. we will, of course, keep that judgement under review at future meetings. thank you for listening. i am happy to answer questions. endnotes [ * ] i would like to thank andrea brischetto, mark chambers and michelle van der merwe for assistance in the preparation of this talk. see reserve bank

the second is a change in the industries in which investment is occurring. over recent times, one of the central themes in the rba's discussions with businesses has been the much greater use of information technology to increase productivity. among other things, we hear about the possibilities and the challenges of data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, the better use of sensors to control production and the automation of processes and production methods. a similar picture emerges from a survey undertaken by ai group last year, where ceos were asked about their main investment priority for the year ahead. at the top of the list were investment in technology and the staff training that is needed to support that investment ( graph 4 ). next on the list was investment in research and development ( r & d ). further down the list was investment in physical assets. if we look back at previous surveys, it's clear that this focus on investing in technology has increased over time. graph 4 this is not to underplay the importance of investment in physical assets. this remains critical. we need places to work, live, shop and play, and investment in buildings & structures and machinery & equipment remains central to this. but increasingly, investment decisions in these areas are also often just as much about technology as they are about other things. in every industry – in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, the health sector and business services – businesses are having to make investments in information technology to remain competitive. this is changing the way we think about investment. tracking this shift in investment for the economy as a whole is complicated by some limitations in the available data. the abs does, however, publish separate figures for investment in buildings & structures, machinery & equipment and intellectual property ( graph 5 ). graph 5 these data show that over the past couple of decades, investment in intellectual property has grown noticeably faster and more consistently than investment in buildings & structures and machinery & equipment. this is particularly so since 2009 / 10. over this period, the weakness in overall nonmining investment is explained by there being almost no growth in investment in tangible assets. in contrast, investment in intellectual property has grown at an average rate of 5 per cent. following this sustained period of strong growth in investment in intellectual property, this component now accounts for around 20 per cent of total non - mining investment, in nominal terms. by way of comparison, this share was just 3 per cent in the early 1980s ( graph 6 ). conversely, the share of investment spending on machinery &