The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has moved in line with expectations and kept Australia’s official cash rate unchanged at 3 per cent at its second board meeting of 2013.
The decision comes after the Central Bank kept the cash rate steady last month, having slashed 1.75 percentage points since November 2011.
RBA Governor Glenn Stevens has conceded 2012 saw significant easing in monetary policy and suggested it will take more time for the full impact to become apparent.
In Australia the RBA noted close to trend growth over 2012 and says as the peak in resource investment approaches there will be more scope for some other areas of demand to strengthen.
Looking abroad the RBA forecasts global growth to be a little below average for a time but says the downside risks appear to have lessened over recent months.
Taking into account these factors the RBA has judged it was prudent to leave the cash rate unchanged today and has advised it will continue to assess the outlook and adjust policy as needed.
