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RBA Rates Decision – February 2012

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) surprised the broader market this afternoon by leaving the cash rate at 4.25%. One would now expect a bit of media backlash towards the government and RBA for this decision in light of the recent media reports of major job losses in some sectors of the economy. Certainly expect to see the Retailer Association, Ma...

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RBA Rates Decision – December 2011

Although there were plenty tipping this rate cut including the money markets, the RBA’s move to cut rates by a further 25 basis points came as a surprise to me given the minutes of the November meeting suggested it was a close call that we got a rate cut on Melbourne Cup Day. The messages from the RBA following the November cut, was that its Nove...

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The Cost of Interest

What is the largest single amount of money you expect to part with in your life?  For most families, a family home will probably be the largest single purchase they will make in their lives.  But while the actual purchase price you pay for a house may be the biggest amount of money you spend in a single lump sum, there is likely to be another cos...

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RBA Rates Decision – November 2011

Finally the planets have aligned and we have our long awaited cash rate cut of 0.25% bringing the cash rate down to 4.50%. I would think all the banks/lenders will be sensible in passing on this full amount without incident, CBA and Westpac have already done that and now I’d expect the others to follow. However history tells me they will set a da...

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RBA Rates Decision – October 2011

Anyone tired of hearing about the European debt crisis or the US economy yet? Of course we all are, but as the saying goes ‘Money makes the world go around’, so these global events are unfortunately part of Australia and ultimately a part of our personal worlds.  And a clear reminder of this is the equity markets and how they have been so v...

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RBA Rates Decision – September 2011

The RBA have again left interest rates on hold, after much speculation mid last month around the cash rate being reduced to stimulate the wider economy as it’s believed to be slowing over the past few months. In a recent speech, the Deputy Governor, Mr Ric Battellino, gave his indication that recent global economic uncertainty and the subseque...

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RBA Rates Decision – August 2011

For the first time in a while the RBA decision on interest rates was something worth watching.  Only two weeks before the inflation data was released last week, there was Bill Evans – Westpac’s chief Economist - on Sunday night TV talking about rates coming down.  Then stepping up to the plate is the Inflation Genie, which really put a spanne...

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RBA Rates Decision – July 2011

Hmmmmm, just how well is the little Aussie Economy going? As expected the RBA remained in a holding pattern on the cash rate, pushing out their well versed message of “rates remain appropriate”, well for now anyway. Their people still remain hawkish on further interest rate rises as theirs and Treasuries GDP calculations have the economy gro...

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RBA Rates Decision – June 2011

The RBA held off increasing the cash rate / interest rates once again this month, as it digests the March Quarter GDP data.  The numbers for the quarter weren’t good, driven by the natural disaster events in Queensland.  These events caused significant disruption to the mining industry, due to major infrastructure damage from these events. T...

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RBA Rates Decision – May 2011

The RBA has left the official cash rate on hold again in May, making it 6 months since the last cash rate movement.  Minutes from the previous RBA board meeting certainly indicated that the board position was that rates remained adequate for the near term, as subdued consumer spending and the impacts of major disasters still filter through the eco...

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RBA Rates Decision – April 2011

For the x month in a row the cash rate has remained on hold as the RBA looks for further indications that the economy is continuing to grow following the recent major flood and cyclone disasters that hit our shores earlier this year. If the economy rebounds quickly and the insurance works provide inflationary pressures on materials and labour, p...

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RBA Rates Decision – March 2011

The cash rate remained on hold again this month as the RBA awaits more critical data on the performance of the economy before looking to adjust the cash rate. Most economists expect further rate rises in 2011, with many tipping an increase in the cash rate of around 0.5% over the course of the year. Events in the Middle East region could play a ...

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