THE Reserve Bank (RBA) has defied market expectations and left the cash rate unchanged at 4.5 per cent for the fifth straight month.
But the reprieve for borrowers and home owners may be short lived, with the prospect of a November rate hike still "live", economists say.
In a statement accompanying the decision, RBA governor Glenn Stevens said he expected inflation, which monetary policy is designed to control, to remain within the RBA's target band of two to three per cent over the near term.
However, his statement also had a warning about future rate rises.
"If economic conditions evolve as the Board currently expects, it is likely that higher interest rates will be required, at some point, to ensure that inflation remains consistent with the medium-term target," he said.
ICAP economist Adam Carr said he would have been surprised if the RBA had lifted the rate in October because there had been too few economic indicators released during the previous month.
"It was the right decision. We haven't had any new data since August," Mr Carr said.
"I would have been genuinely surprised, analytically, had they done it. The case hadn't been made.
"We have got a lot of data coming in over the next month and if it comes in as expected, there will be a case to hike."
Most economists and analysts - including those from the big four commercial banks - were expecting the RBA to lift the rate to 4.75 per cent.
A rate rise of 25 basis points would have added about $50 to the monthly repayments on a 25 year, $300,000 mortgage.
The local dollar fell almost one US cent to 95.76 cents in the minutes after the decision was announced.
Australian bonds rose on the news, with the three-year futures contract rising to 95.19, from 95.04 just before the announcement.
Before the decision's announcement, the futures market had priced in a two in three chance of a rate increase.
The market has now priced in a one in three chance of a November rate rise.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Reserve Bank's official interest rate kept on hold at 4.5 per cent
BORROWERS receive a reprieve from a further squeeze on their budgets for at least another month after the Reserve Bank left the cash interest rate unchanged.
The majority of economists and analysts had expected the central bank to lift the cash rate to 4.75 per cent from its current 4.5 per cent.
Industry analysts believe that if the Reserve Bank lifts the base rate by 0.25 percentage points, the banks could increase mortgage rates as much as 0.45 percentage points.
That would add about $90 a month to repayments on the average $300,000 mortgage.
Earlier today, retail trade at current prices rose 0.3 per cent in August to a seasonally adjusted $20.464 billion, from an upwardly revised $20.405 billion in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.
It was broadly in line with the median market expectation for a 0.4 per cent rise in the month.
ABS data also showed Australia had a $2.3 billion trade surplus in August, which also matched expectations.
The majority of economists and analysts had expected the central bank to lift the cash rate to 4.75 per cent from its current 4.5 per cent.
Industry analysts believe that if the Reserve Bank lifts the base rate by 0.25 percentage points, the banks could increase mortgage rates as much as 0.45 percentage points.
That would add about $90 a month to repayments on the average $300,000 mortgage.
Earlier today, retail trade at current prices rose 0.3 per cent in August to a seasonally adjusted $20.464 billion, from an upwardly revised $20.405 billion in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.
It was broadly in line with the median market expectation for a 0.4 per cent rise in the month.
ABS data also showed Australia had a $2.3 billion trade surplus in August, which also matched expectations.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Dollar falls on rate decision
THE dollar fell and bonds rose after the Reserve Bank left the cash rate unchanged at its October board meeting today.
The dollar was at is now at 95.72 US cents at 12.40pm (AEDT), down from 96.70 US cents just prior to the announcement at 2.30pm (AEDT) .
The majority of economists and analysts had expected the central bank to lift the cash rate to 4.75 per cent from its current 4.5 per cent.
Australian bonds rose on the news, with the three-year futures contract rising to 95.19, from 95.04.
The dollar was at is now at 95.72 US cents at 12.40pm (AEDT), down from 96.70 US cents just prior to the announcement at 2.30pm (AEDT) .
The majority of economists and analysts had expected the central bank to lift the cash rate to 4.75 per cent from its current 4.5 per cent.
Australian bonds rose on the news, with the three-year futures contract rising to 95.19, from 95.04.
Friday, June 11, 2010
THE case against an HIV-positive circus acrobat accused of deliberately spreading AIDS by having unprotected sex with women is now likely to be heard next year. Godfrey Zaburoni, 32, has been charged with knowingly spreading the AIDS virus by having unprotected sex with two women and with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm. The charges were mentioned in Southport Magistrates Court today before being listed for a further review on November 18. The acrobat, who did not appear in court, remains on bail but his whereabouts have been suppressed by order of the Brisbane Supreme Court.
NEW South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally has defended police use of Taser stun guns following the death of a man in western Sydney overnight.
Ms Keneally said today she didn't want to comment directly on the case so as not to pre-empt a police critical investigation.
But she defended the use of the weapons, saying in most cases they were not discharged.
"I'm advised that since October 2008 there have been 973 occasions for police to withdraw their Tasers," she said.
"I'm also advised that in 69 per cent of those occasions the Taser was not fired.
"We will continue to take advice from the police and we will continue to supply our police force with the equipment they need.
"Our police are asked to make split-second decisions, often in very difficult circumstances, circumstances many of us could not imagine or contemplate being in."
Asked if she would agree to a NSW Greens call for a independent inquiry into the use of Tasers by police, Ms Keneally said: "Let's allow these investigations to take their course".
"Let's allow the facts of the situation to be put before us before we rush to judgement on what the next step should be."
Police tasered the man, who was allegedly armed with two knives, after they arrived a home in Helen St, Sefton, early this morning.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione earlier today defended the action of two officers, saying the use of Taser may have saved their lives.
A coroner still has to determine the cause of death of the man.
The incident has reignited debate about the weapons, with some critics such as the NSW Ombudsman saying police are using them too readily.
Ms Keneally said today she didn't want to comment directly on the case so as not to pre-empt a police critical investigation.
But she defended the use of the weapons, saying in most cases they were not discharged.
"I'm advised that since October 2008 there have been 973 occasions for police to withdraw their Tasers," she said.
"I'm also advised that in 69 per cent of those occasions the Taser was not fired.
"We will continue to take advice from the police and we will continue to supply our police force with the equipment they need.
"Our police are asked to make split-second decisions, often in very difficult circumstances, circumstances many of us could not imagine or contemplate being in."
Asked if she would agree to a NSW Greens call for a independent inquiry into the use of Tasers by police, Ms Keneally said: "Let's allow these investigations to take their course".
"Let's allow the facts of the situation to be put before us before we rush to judgement on what the next step should be."
Police tasered the man, who was allegedly armed with two knives, after they arrived a home in Helen St, Sefton, early this morning.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione earlier today defended the action of two officers, saying the use of Taser may have saved their lives.
A coroner still has to determine the cause of death of the man.
The incident has reignited debate about the weapons, with some critics such as the NSW Ombudsman saying police are using them too readily.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
South Australian unions liken cuts in entitlements to Work Choices
SOUTH Australian unions have likened cuts to their entitlements in the recent state budget to former prime minister John Howard's Work Choices laws.
Public sector union leaders met in Adelaide today and voted unanimously to rally against state government plans to axe more than 3000 jobs, slash loading payments on annual leave and cut long service leave entitlements.
SA Unions Secretary Janet Giles says new legislation which has been "rushed" through SA's lower house will override previously negotiated agreements for entitlements.
"It's basically the same sort of mechanism that John Howard used when he legislated away the right to collectively bargain," Ms Giles told the union meeting.
"We would never have expected a Labor premier and a Labor treasurer to have picked up the same tactics.
"It's a slap in the face for the rights of workers to collectively bargain and bargain in good faith."
The unions will rally at lunchtime on Friday and Ms Giles wouldn't rule out strike action, which she said was a matter for the individual unions.
The Ambulance Employees Association (AEA) of SA, which was directly targeted by the state government plans has also planned stop work action for Friday.
AEA SA secretary Phil Palmer said the changes were an "absolute betrayal" of ambulance workers and the service they did for the community.
"We did an agreement with the government three years ago, signed by me and by government representatives that gave us extra long service leave and now we've got legislation taking it off us," he said.
Public sector union leaders met in Adelaide today and voted unanimously to rally against state government plans to axe more than 3000 jobs, slash loading payments on annual leave and cut long service leave entitlements.
SA Unions Secretary Janet Giles says new legislation which has been "rushed" through SA's lower house will override previously negotiated agreements for entitlements.
"It's basically the same sort of mechanism that John Howard used when he legislated away the right to collectively bargain," Ms Giles told the union meeting.
"We would never have expected a Labor premier and a Labor treasurer to have picked up the same tactics.
"It's a slap in the face for the rights of workers to collectively bargain and bargain in good faith."
The unions will rally at lunchtime on Friday and Ms Giles wouldn't rule out strike action, which she said was a matter for the individual unions.
The Ambulance Employees Association (AEA) of SA, which was directly targeted by the state government plans has also planned stop work action for Friday.
AEA SA secretary Phil Palmer said the changes were an "absolute betrayal" of ambulance workers and the service they did for the community.
"We did an agreement with the government three years ago, signed by me and by government representatives that gave us extra long service leave and now we've got legislation taking it off us," he said.
Friday, March 5, 2010
HIV acrobat case delayed again
THE case against an HIV-positive circus acrobat accused of deliberately spreading AIDS by having unprotected sex with women is now likely to be heard next year.
Godfrey Zaburoni, 32, has been charged with knowingly spreading the AIDS virus by having unprotected sex with two women and with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm.
The charges were mentioned in Southport Magistrates Court today before being listed for a further review on November 18.
The acrobat, who did not appear in court, remains on bail but his whereabouts have been suppressed by order of the Brisbane Supreme Court.
Godfrey Zaburoni, 32, has been charged with knowingly spreading the AIDS virus by having unprotected sex with two women and with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm.
The charges were mentioned in Southport Magistrates Court today before being listed for a further review on November 18.
The acrobat, who did not appear in court, remains on bail but his whereabouts have been suppressed by order of the Brisbane Supreme Court.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Jury told of hammer attack on truckie
A MAN accused of bashing his boss with a hammer as he slept at a Gold Coast motel, told police he put a pillow over his victim's head and attacked him after eight days of being abused, a court has been told.
Geoffrey Robert Parker is charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Gary Ronald McClure by hitting him at least twice with a claw hammer in the Coomera Motor Inn on the Gold Coast, in the early hours of December 17, 2007, after a long-haul drive in a removal truck.
In his opening address to the District Court jury today, crown prosecutor Richard Pointing said police who spoke to Mr Parker on the night of the attack would give evidence he told them he couldn't take his boss's relentless abuse.
Mr Pointing told the jury they would hear Mr Parker tell police in a recorded conversation: "He (McClure) just kept abusing me, and abusing me, and abusing me for the last eight days, I just wanted it to stop and he just kept at it ... he just kept pushing me and I hit him with a hammer."
Ambulance dispatcher Danielle Cramp told the jury that according to her notes Mr Parker told her his boss was abusing him and he covered his face with a pillow and hit him with a hammer.
Mr Pointing said evidence would be given that paramedics who found Mr McClure in the motel room could see part of his brain exposed through wounds and fractures in his skull.
The jury was told the victim would be unlikely to give evidence as he was still being treated for the injuries which had left him with serious and permanent disabilities.
Mr Pointing referred to evidence that a pillow was placed over the victim's head before the attack, that a hammer was used inside the motel room, and that there were no reports of a disturbance or argument before the incident.
He told the six men and six women of the jury the prosecution's case would focus on Mr Parker's intent to cause serious harm to his victim.
"The issue is not whether Mr Parker did this but what was going through his mind at the time," he said.
The trial continues this week.
Geoffrey Robert Parker is charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Gary Ronald McClure by hitting him at least twice with a claw hammer in the Coomera Motor Inn on the Gold Coast, in the early hours of December 17, 2007, after a long-haul drive in a removal truck.
In his opening address to the District Court jury today, crown prosecutor Richard Pointing said police who spoke to Mr Parker on the night of the attack would give evidence he told them he couldn't take his boss's relentless abuse.
Mr Pointing told the jury they would hear Mr Parker tell police in a recorded conversation: "He (McClure) just kept abusing me, and abusing me, and abusing me for the last eight days, I just wanted it to stop and he just kept at it ... he just kept pushing me and I hit him with a hammer."
Ambulance dispatcher Danielle Cramp told the jury that according to her notes Mr Parker told her his boss was abusing him and he covered his face with a pillow and hit him with a hammer.
Mr Pointing said evidence would be given that paramedics who found Mr McClure in the motel room could see part of his brain exposed through wounds and fractures in his skull.
The jury was told the victim would be unlikely to give evidence as he was still being treated for the injuries which had left him with serious and permanent disabilities.
Mr Pointing referred to evidence that a pillow was placed over the victim's head before the attack, that a hammer was used inside the motel room, and that there were no reports of a disturbance or argument before the incident.
He told the six men and six women of the jury the prosecution's case would focus on Mr Parker's intent to cause serious harm to his victim.
"The issue is not whether Mr Parker did this but what was going through his mind at the time," he said.
The trial continues this week.
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