Members commenced their discussion by noting that the data on activity and inflation in the global economy had been more positive over recent months. There had been a broad-based pick-up in surveyed conditions in manufacturing across economies as well as in growth in industrial production and merchandise trade. GDP growth in Australia's major trading partners had increased a little over recent quarters and forecasts for 2017 and 2018 had been revised a little higher, partly because of expectations of expansionary fiscal policy in the United States. However, trading partner growth was still expected to ease slightly ... (full story)

Australia’s central bank predicts rising resource exports in a more positive global environment will spur growth as the drag from falling mining investment wanes. In an outlook underpinned by a record-low 1.5 percent cash rate, policy makers said in minutes of this month’s policy meeting that consumption growth would also pick up from a lull in mid-2016 while remaining constrained by low wage growth. “The higher terms of trade represented a boost to national income, which provided some upside risks to the domestic forecasts,” the Reserve Bank of Australia said Tuesday. It reiterated gross domestic product growth was ... (full story)