SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s central bank raised its cash rate 25 basis points to a 10-year high of 3.10% on Tuesday and reiterated that further policy tightening will be needed ahead, although policy was not on a pre-set path.
Wrapping up its December policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said the size and timing of future rate increases would be determined by incoming data and by the Board’s assessment of the outlook for inflation and the labour market.
Markets had been leaning towards a quarter-point move, although with some risk of a pause given that the drastic tightening already delivered had yet to take its full toll on mortgage repayments. This was the eighth hike since May, lifting rates by a total of 300 basis points.
(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Edmund Klamann)