The Reserve Bank of Australia lowered the official interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.60% at its meeting today, marking the third cut this year. The move follows reductions in February and May, and comes after a pause in July that surprised analysts and upset mortgage holders.
The Reserve Bank cut its outlook for economic growth, and said inflation was back within its target band. In a post-meeting press conference, Governor Michele Bullock said:
The forecasts imply that the cash rate might need to be a bit lower than it is today to keep inflation low and stable, and employment growing, but there is still a lot of uncertainty. So the board will continue to focus on the data to guide its policy response.
