Forexpros – The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the third consecutive month in April, it announced on Tuesday.
In a statement, the RBA said it keeping its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.25% in April, in line with market expectations.
In its accompanying rate statement, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said, “The board judged the pace of output growth to be somewhat lower than earlier estimated but also thought it prudent to see forthcoming key data on prices to reassess its outlook for inflation before considering a further step to ease monetary policy.”
The statement continued, “Recent information is consistent with the expectation that the world economy will grow at a below-trend pace this year but does not suggest that a deep downturn is occurring.”
Stevens added, “Were demand conditions to weaken materially, the inflation outlook would provide scope for easier monetary policy.”
Following the decision, the Australian dollar was down slightly against its U.S. counterpart, with AUD/USD shedding 0.17% to trade at 1.0401.
Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were mixed to higher. Australia’s ASX/200 Index rose 0.2%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped 0.6%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.75%.
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