Westpac Economic News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The minutes of the late-March meeting of the RBA Board (the last in the Martin Place building) recorded that the data had turned out broadly as expected, and that this supported keeping the cash rate on hold. Unlike the February minutes, there was no mention of multiple policy options. While the Board endorsed the language of not ruling anything in or out, it seems that policy actions other than keeping rates unchanged were not on the table at this meeting. The current level of the cash rate is assessed as being just right, at least for the time being.

The minutes of the December meeting of the RBA Board highlighted the benefits of testing your assessment of the economy against subsequent data. Monetary policy is working to bring demand and supply back into closer alignment and inflation back to target, and some of the concerns that would support a case to raise rates further were effectively dismissed by data released after the meeting. The Board’s decision to hold was therefore vindicated by subsequent events.