The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board members decided to leave the official cash rate (OCR) unchanged at a record low of 0.10% during their December monetary policy meeting. The board decided to maintain the interest rate on exchange settlement balances at zero percent.
The board is committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions and the board is prepared to be patient. The minutes go on to say that the emergence of the omicron variant was a new source of uncertainty, but it was expected to derail the recovery.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor, Phillip Lowe, says he will consider actions of other central banks, effects of the omicron variant and estimates total extra savings by households during pandemic at more than A$200 bln.
Analysts at Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) banking group believe that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will bring an end to its quantitative easing (QE) program next month, despite the emergence of Omicron impact.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board members decided to leave the official cash rate (OCR) unchanged at a record low of 0.10% during their December monetary policy meeting. The board decided to maintain the interest rate on exchange settlement balances at zero percent.
Following are the key headlines from the December RBA monetary policy statement, via Reuters, as presented by Governor Phillip Lowe.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board members announced no changes to the official cash rate (OCR), leaving it at a record low of 0.10% during their November monetary policy meeting. The board decided to discontinue the target of 10 basis points for the April 2024 Australian government bond.
Following are the key headlines from the November RBA monetary policy statement, via Reuters, as presented by Governor Phillip Lowe. "Will not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target range."
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and derives its functions and powers from the Reserve Bank Act 1959. Its duty is to contribute to the stability of the currency, full employment, and the economic prosperity and welfare of the Australian people. It does this by setting the cash rate to meet an agreed medium-term inflation target, working to maintain a strong financial system and efficient payments system, and issuing the nation's banknotes.
The RBA provides certain banking services as required to the Australian Government and its agencies, and to a number of overseas central banks and official institutions. Additionally, it manages Australia's gold and foreign exchange reserves.
Philip Lowe is an Australian economist, born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. He is the current Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, having succeeded Glenn Stevens on 18 September 2016. He was previously deputy governor under Stevens from 2012.
Lowe on his profile and Wikipedia.
The World Interest Rates Table reflects the current interest rates of the main countries around the world, set by their respective Central Banks. Rates typically reflect the health of individual economies, as in a perfect scenario, Central Banks tend to rise rates when the economy is growing and therefore instigate inflation.
