Australia pauses interest rate hikes

The Reserve Bank of Australia has paused its 10-meeting rate hike, keeping interest rates steady at 3.6 percent. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) paused its rate hike cycle on Tuesday, keeping official interest rates unchanged for the first time in almost a year. The bank kept its benchmark interest rate steady at 3.6 percent. Expectations had also been that there would be no change in interest rates. This marks the first pause in the rate hike cycle since the RBA began raising rates in April 2022. The RBA has raised rates by a total of 350 basis points in its 10 previous meetings. The bank said in a statement: “The decision to keep interest rates steady this month provides the Board with more time to assess the state of the economy and the outlook amid significant uncertainty. The Board will closely monitor developments in the global economy, household trends, inflation and the labour market as it considers when and by how much interest rates should be increased.” The Australian dollar weakened to 0.6782 against the dollar following the move.