Australia faces renewed taper debate

All quiet: The Bondi Beach in Sydney during lockdown. The worsening outbreak of the Delta variant is slowing down the country’s economic rebound. — Reuters

BRISBANE: Australia’s central bankers are set to revisit the question of whether to delay a planned taper of bond purchases as a worsening outbreak of the Delta variant dims prospects of a rapid economic rebound.

Ten of 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will defer scaling back quantitative easing (QE) today.