Better than expected unemployment figures for March have eased pressure on the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates next month. Unemployment in fact has hit
Interest Rates to Remain on Hold according to Commsec Economist.
Nearly all economists seem to agree that interest rates will be put on hold for at least a couple of months following lower than expected inflation figures for the December quarter last year:
The $ sign was designed in 1788 by Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, using a combination of Spanish money symbols.
AUD/USD – Short term trend DOWN, Long term trend DOWN
The AUD/USD falls further as risk selling on fears of a deeper slowing of the global economy gather momentum.
As we close out 2011 and reflect on the year that was, the only thing that appears predictable in our current economic environment is unpredictability. Part of the reason for this is that it is near impossible to read the minds of policy makers, but attempting to do so, see to occupy an inmsordinate amount of the time of financial commentators and economists. Every week we are sent analyses of the interest rate environment by bank economists and it is interesting to look back at these memo’s to see how quickly prevailing view of interest rate movements can change at the proverbial drop of a hat.
Despite the Australian dollar’s recent recovery, RBA October minutes suggest there will be no change to interest rates next month.
In its final meeting of the year the RBA has kept interest rates on hold.
The RBA released a statement that was identical to the previous month, stressing that the value of the Australian dollar was ‘still uncomfortably high’.
Loan-to-value ratios (LVR’s) are in decline, with the latest AFG Mortgage Index figures showing them to be at their lowest level since 2012.
Home loan borrowers can put their hopes on hold for short-term rate cuts as the struggling jobs market continues to hold the economy back.
