Reserve Bank of Australia
June 7, 2017
The June Board meeting on the 6th left Australia’s Official Cash Rate at 1.5% as expected. It was last changed in August 2016, a cut from 1.75%, and similar-sized reductions were authorized in October and December 2012, May and August 2013, February and May 2015, and May 2016. The main revelation from the released statement from Governor Lowe was a slowdown in economic growth during the first quarter of 2017. GDP data reported today confirm that the economy expanded 0.3%, down from 1.1% in the final quarter of 2016, and that on-year growth decelerated to 1.7% from 2.4%. For now officials assume growth will pick up again and hover near 3% in coming years. As before, the statement warns that “an appreciating exchange rate would complicate this adjustment.”
Copyright 2017, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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