Australia central bank holds rates, expands bank funding scheme

SYDNEY: Australia's central bank on Tuesday unexpectedly boosted the size and term for cheap funding to lenders as the economy looked set to post to its worst contraction since the Great Depression due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept rates at 0.25%, in a widely expected move, and said it would increase the size of its term funding facility to around A$200 billion ($148.08 billion) at a fixed rate of 25 basis points for three years.