What will the RBA do in March?

February 28, 2009 · Filed Under Economic News, Interest Rates 

Welcome back!

Well March is just around the corner and the next RBA meeting will decide on monetary policy for another month.  Since September 2008 the RBA have cut rates by 400 basis points, what does March have in order for home owners, investors and the economy?

Glenn Stevens perhaps has one of the hardest jobs in Australia.  Stevens has to decide if enough liquidity has been pumped into the local economy with recent interest rate cuts or if more is required to stimulate domestic demand.

The result by Harvey Norman and the halving of profit is an omen for the consumer hed Australian economy and an indication that things are likely to get much worse before they get better.

Consumer demand despite government stimulation before Christmas has failed to bounce post Christmas as households tighten belts with increasing job losses and negative sentiment affecting the economy. 

The RBA boss has already indicated that he would like to sit back and assess the economy in light of all the recent economic stimulants announced by the government and any future rate cuts are unlikely to be as big as recent cuts. 

I suspect we will see a cut of 50 basis points in March that will take us to a cash rate of 2.75%.  Future cuts will likely continue to occur and could take us down to 2.00% in the coming months but Stevens will be monitoring the economy for worsening economic news before he pulls the trigger for big future cuts.

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