RBA chief warns of little capacity to protect global economy from 'political shocks'

Philip Lowe speaking at meeting of central bank chiefs in US says political turbulence is prompting economic jitters

With the trade war between the United States and China spiralling, and world leaders gathering in France for the G7 summit, Australia's central bank governor Philip Lowe has issued a stark warning that there is only limited capacity to protect the global economy from "a period of major political shocks".

Lowe used a contribution at the closing session of a retreat for central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to argue that political shocks, like the trade dispute which imperils global growth, the turbulence created by Brexit, and protests in Hong Kong, were "turning into economic shocks".

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