Hundreds of thousands of Aussie borrowers can breathe a sigh of relief after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided to keep the nation’s cash rate on hold for a third month running.
Meeting at the bank’s Martin Place headquarters this afternoon, the RBA board decided to keep interest rates on hold at 4.1 per cent.
Today’s meeting marks the last time Governor Philip Lowe will hand down a monetary policy decision, following a decision by the treasurer that his seven-year term would not be extended.
Largely unknown for much of his career, Lowe’s name became recognised in households across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic – and more controversially after it.
During that time, Lowe and the RBA board cut interest rates to a historic low of 0.1 per cent to stimulate the economy, followed by 12 interest rate hikes in as many months to control wildly spreading inflation.
He attracted a large swathe of criticism after he was perceived to be telling homeowners – with caveats – that the RBA did not expect to raise rates until 2024.
Lowe’s last day as governor will be September 17, when he will be replaced by one of the current deputy governors Michele Bullock.
In his decision today, Lowe said the board was awaiting more economic data to assess whether more needed to be done to speed up the falling rate of inflation.
“Interest rates have been increased by 4 percentage points since May last year. The higher interest rates are working to establish a more sustainable balance between supply and demand in the economy and will continue to do so,” he said.
“In light of this and the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, the Board again decided to hold interest rates steady this month.
(9 NEWS)
