The currency slid about 1.5% over the five days through Friday as influential Westpac Banking Corp economist Bill Evans brought forward his forecast for the next interest-rate cut to October, and Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe(pic) said he was ready to ease again to revive economic growth.
SYDNEY: Australian central bank chief Philip Lowe kept his head below the parapet by keeping interest rates unchanged less than two weeks out from an election, saying lower unemployment is needed to drive faster inflation.
Lowe left the cash rate at 1.5% – where it has stood since he took the helm in September 2016 – after economists and money markets were almost evenly divided on the decision. This was the governor’s first meeting where an adjustment was in play, with a swathe of economists switching to calling cuts following weak first-quarter inflation.
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