dining out & takeaway - 5 insurance & financial - 5 rents clothing & leisure motor vehicles household goods fuel electricity alcohol & tobacco administered gas holiday travel fruit & vegetables avc * * groceries new dwellings * average from 1993 to december quarter of 2019 ; volatile & administered items are 37 per cent of the cpi basket, selected goods are 32 per cent and selected services are 26 per cent ; administered excludes utilities ; groceries excludes fruit & vegetables. * * audio, visual & computing equipment. sources : abs ; rba. the second indicator that inflation is being driven by domestic demand is that it is increasingly underpinned by services ( graph 4 ). hairdressers and dentists, dining out, sporting and other recreational activities – the prices of all these services are rising strongly. this reflects domestic economic conditions and is an indication that aggregate demand is sufficiently greater than aggregate supply to sustain these price increases. r e s e r v e b a n k o f au s t r a l i a graph 4 cpi inflation year - ended with contributions % total services * rents % selected goods * * other - 2 * includes market services and administered items ; excludes rents and holiday travel & accommodation. * * includes groceries, alcohol & tobacco, consumer durables and new dwellings. - 2 sources : abs ; rba. the cost of these services is also typically driven by the price of domestic inputs, since labour and domestic nonlabour costs comprise most of the inputs used in supplying them. the bank ’ s liaison with firms indicates that these domestic cost pressures are proving persistent. labour costs have risen, especially when we incorporate the effect of weak productivity growth, and the price of domestic non - labour costs such as energy, business rents and insurance has increased noticeably ( graph 5 ). on the other hand, imported cost pressures are starting to subside. graph 5 change in firms ’ non - labour costs * net balance, firms reporting in liaison ppt ppt domestic costs imported costs - 50 - 50 - 100 * - 100 share of firms reporting above - average increases less share reporting below - average increases or decreases ; average increase indexed to 0 ; smoothed with a 13 - month henderson trend. source : rba. the third signal is the continuation of limited spare capacity, most evident in high rates of labour utilisation. there continues to be a clear link between services inflation and measures of spare capacity, since it is easier to raise prices when firms cannot keep up with customers ’ demands (

, starting from february 2024 • longer board meetings • an internal staff meeting at the beginning of the board cycle that board members would be able to attend • board oversight of the research agenda • changes to communication, including the post - meeting statement being issued by the board, rather than the governor, and media conferences after each meeting. since that announcement, we have expanded and sharpened our thinking on these issues. in doing so, we have focused on the recommendations of the review. but we have also engaged with peer central banks and drawn on expertise from outside the bank. in building out these changes, we have been mindful of two key aims highlighted in the review – providing more opportunity for deep and informed deliberation, and providing a clearer explanation of monetary policy decisions to our various audiences. deep and informed deliberation the starting point for deep and informed deliberation is to allow time. the first step will involve board members attending a ‘ policy issues meeting ’ around 10 days before each board meeting. currently, board members receive the material for the board meeting four days prior to the meeting. the new process will therefore engage board members with the policy issues earlier. this new meeting will assemble a group of staff with the right experience and expertise to give the members insights and diversity of perspectives on the key issues relevant for policy. it will provide analysis of issues that are relevant to a few upcoming meetings, not just the immediate one. for example, staff could provide deeper analysis on issues that members have been grappling with in previous meetings. they could discuss longer run issues that potentially affect monetary policy well into the future. or they could cover topics that the staff believe will equip the board to consider the different options for policy – for example, scenario analysis. i envisage that members would be active participants in the meeting, asking questions and requesting follow - up analysis as required. the second step is to hold longer board meetings. meetings will start on the monday afternoon. discussion in the afternoon will involve presentations from staff on the state of the economy and markets, along with the outlook. this will mean that the board spends around 3½ hours discussing these issues – about twice as much as now. the idea is not for longer presentations but for members to have more time to discuss, probe and deepen their understanding of the issues. my own experience in the current meetings is that there is never any shortage of questions – just a shortage of time to address them all in the meeting. the board