The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced the sixth consecutive interest rate hike at its board meeting on Oct. 4, lifting the official cash rate to 2.6 percent.
Prior to the meeting, the RBA said it would opt between a 0.25 percent and 0.5 percent rate rise. It eventually chose the former option, which went against many experts’ expectations of a higher rate hike.
RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the central bank was aware that it had raised the cash rate substantially in a short period of time.
“Reflecting this, the Board decided to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points this month as it assesses the outlook for inflation and economic growth in Australia,” he said in a statement….