Central Banks
Australia Raises Key Rate to 10-Year High, Sees More to Come
- Reserve Bank expects to further tighten policy in months ahead
- Australian dollar and government bond yields climb on guidance
A person enters the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) building in Sydney.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Australia’s central bank raised interest rates by a quarter-percentage point and said further tightening will be needed to crush stubbornly-high inflation, sending the currency and bond yields higher.
At its first meeting of the year, the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 3.35%, the highest level since September 2012, in a widely-anticipated decision. In his statement outlining expectations of further hikes, Governor Philip Lowe dropped last year’s qualifier that the bank wasn’t on a pre-set path on rates.