Australia keeps rates at 4.5%

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Australia keeps rates at 4.5%

The Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia has decided to leave the country’s interest rate unchanged at 4.5%.

The decision is made as the global economy continues to grow, although in an uneven manner, with major economies progressing more slowly and Asia and Latin America expanding more rapidly.

Australias has kept the 4.5% interest for two months, with the last rise being 25 basis points in May of this year.

Rates have been rising rapidly in Australia in recent months, with the interest rate increasing from 3% to 4.5% in less than year.

However, in the eurozone and the United Kingdom both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England have retained the record low interest rates first reached when central banks slashed rates to stave off the worst effects of recession.

The UK has had an interest rate of 0.5% for more than a year, but recently the OECD called for rates to increase to help tackle inflation.