RBA cuts OCR to record lows
(3 May 2016 – Australia) On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut the overnight cash rate (OCR) to a record low of 1.75 percent.
RBA governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement that the decision to cut rates for the first time in a year was based on last week's surprisingly weak inflation figures, which saw it drop below the central bank’s target range of between two to three percent.
"Inflation has been quite low for some time and recent data were unexpectedly low," Stevens said in a statement.
"While the quarterly data contain some temporary factors, these results, together with ongoing very subdued growth in labour costs and very low cost pressures elsewhere in the world, point to a lower outlook for inflation than previously forecast," he added.
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