At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent. Growth in the global economy was a bit below trend in 2013, but there are reasonable prospects of a better outcome this year, helped by firmer conditions in the advanced countries. China's growth appears to have slowed a little in early 2014 but remains generally in line with policymakers' objectives. Commodity prices in historical terms remain high, though some of those important to Australia have softened further of late. Financial conditions overall remain very accommodative. Long-term interest rates and most risk spreads ... (full story)