The Reserve Bank has cut the official
cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent amid signs of continuing softness
in the economy.
The last time interest rates dipped
this low was in 1959/1960 and the cut equates to a saving of around $60 a month
in interest on the average $300,000 home loan.
The RBA
judged a further decline in the cash rate was appropriate to encourage
sustainable growth in the economy, consistent with achieving the inflation
target.
It believes the global economy is
likely to record growth below trend this year, before picking up next year. The
CPI rose by 2.5 per cent over the past year, and measures of underlying
inflation gave a broadly similar outcome. These results have been pushed up a
little by the impact of the carbon price. Growth of labour costs has moderated
slightly over recent quarters while productivity growth appears to be
improving.
Among
the major regions, the United States continues on a path of moderate expansion
and China's growth is running at a more sustainable, but still robust, pace. Japan
has announced significant new policy initiatives aimed at strengthening demand
and ending deflation. The euro area remains in recession and commodity prices
have moderated a little in recent months.
The news has been welcome by the
Housing Industry Association which reported house price growth in Australia’s
capital cities stagnated in the first quarter of 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment