At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent. The global economic expansion is continuing. A number of advanced economies are growing at an above-trend rate and unemployment rates are low. Growth in China has slowed a little, with the authorities easing policy while continuing to pay close attention to the risks in the financial sector. Globally, inflation remains low, although it has increased in some economies and further increases are expected given the tight labour markets. One ongoing uncertainty regarding the global outlook stems from the direction of international ... (full story)

The Reserve Bank has left the cash rate on hold at 1.5 per cent less than a week after the first of the big four banks disregarded the official interest rate and increased costs for borrowers. Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and National Australia Bank chiefs are now weighing up whether to follow Westpac's lead after the central bank again signalled that official rates were going nowhere soon. It has now been 25 months since the RBA moved the cash rate. The market does not expect a change until January 2020. The out-of-cycle move by Westpac has sparked speculation that the next move in interest rates could be down - despite ... (full story)