Australian Official Cash Rate Left Unchanged at 1.50%
April 4, 2017
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s Board has maintained a 1.5% key interest rate since two of 25-basis point reductions in May and August of last year. Similar cuplets were engineered in October and December of 2012, May and August of 2013, such that February and May of 2015, leaving the rate to two percentage points below its pre-October 2012 level and at a record low. Today’s policy announcement from Governor Lowe reads very similarly to previous recent statements and notably includes a warning that Aussie dollar appreciation would likely interfere with a much-needed ongoing transition in Australia’s economy away from the prior mining sector investment boom. Official expect moderate growth to continue and envision a more gradual uptrend in core inflation than anticipated before because of the slow growth in wages. Unemployment has been higher. One gets the impression that monetary officials are in no rush to start raising their interest rates.
Copyright 2017, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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