Australia Central Bank Lifts Rate By 25 Bps

Australia’s central bank raised its key interest rate by a quarter point again on Tuesday, as widely expected.

The policy board of the Reserve Bank of Australia, headed by Governor Philip Lowe, decided to lift the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 3.10 percent.

The board reiterated that it expects to increase interest rates further over the period ahead, but it is not on a pre-set course.

The size and timing of future interest rate increases will continue to be determined by the incoming data and the Board’s assessment of the outlook for inflation and the labor market, the bank repeated.

Policymakers observed that that monetary policy operates with a lag and that the full effect of the increase in interest rates is yet to be felt in mortgage payments. Household spending is likely to slow although the timing and extent of this slowdown is uncertain.

“The path to achieving the needed decline in inflation and achieving a soft landing for the economy remains a narrow one,” Governor Philip Lowe said.