Stevens Signals Key Rate on Hold as Australian Growth Rebounds

Australia’s central bank Governor Glenn Stevens signaled he’s prepared to extend a pause in interest rates as global market turmoil threatens an economy that grew last quarter at the fastest pace in four years.

Second-quarter gross domestic product advanced 1.2 percent from the previous three months, when it fell a revised 0.9 percent, a Bureau of Statistics report released today in Sydney showed. Stevens, speaking earlier in Perth, said households watching Europe’s debt crisis may hunker down and weaken demand compared with the central bank’s forecasts last month.