SYDNEY, April 6 Reuters Australias central bank left interest rates at an alltime low on Tuesday in a widely expected decision but cautioned it would carefully monitor trends in property debt as the housing market boomed.
The Reserve Bank of Australia RBA also reiterated its commitment to keep policy accommodative for as long as is needed to pull down unemployment and push inflation higher, signalling the cash rate would remain at 0.1 until at least 2024.
The RBA cut interest rates three times last year, announced a yield curve control programme to keep three year government bond yields at 0.1 and launched a massive quantitative easing programme targeting longer term bonds.
On Tuesday, it held the cash rate for its fourth straight meeting.
The Board is committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions until its goals are achieved, RBA Governor Philip Lowe said in a short postmeeting statement.
The Board will not increase the cash rate until actual inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target range, he added. The Board does not expect these conditions to be met until 2024 at the earliest.
The ultraeasy monetary policy settings have helped Australia pull out of its first recession in three decades. Data on retail sales, construction activity, business confidence, consumer sentiment and employment have all surpassed expectations in recent months.
Figures out earlier showed Australian job advertisement surged to their highest in 12 years…