Australia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a developed-world high as domestic demand weathers a global slowdown that’s driving down the price of iron ore, the nation’s biggest commodity export. Governor Glenn Stevens and his board left the overnight cash-rate target at 3.5 percent, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement today in Sydney. The decision to hold for a third straight meeting was predicted by all 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Australian dollar slid about 3 percent in the past month as the price of iron ore slumped to the lowest level since 2009. While ... (full story)