RBA tipped to keep rates on hold

The Reserve Bank is expected to keep the official cash rate unchanged on Tuesday, as economists watch for clues on the timeline for interest rate cuts.

The central bank will announce the outcome of its second board meeting of the year at 2.30pm, where it is widely anticipated to keep the cash rate at a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent for a third consecutive time.

Ahead of the meeting, analysts expected the RBA’s post-meeting statement to retain the guidance from its February meeting that “a further increase in interest rates cannot be ruled out.”

Investors have been on tenterhooks for indications about when the RBA will start cutting interest rates.

After firmer-than-expected CPI data released in the United States last week, traders revised their rate cut bets as the view that inflation will remain higher for longer takes hold among markets.

On Monday, money markets were fully priced for a cut by November, which would bring the cash rate to 4.1 per cent.

Previously, a cut in September was priced in, with a strong chance of further easing in interest rates at the central bank’s November meeting.

Following the board’s decision, governor Michele Bullock will address the media at the RBA’s temporary headquarters at Chifley Square, Sydney, as it current offices undergo a multimillion dollar renovation.

The RBA has ratcheted interest rates 13 times since May 2022 to slow, inflation which has eased from its peak of 7.8 per cent in the year to December 2022, to just 3.4 per cent in January.

But with bubbling wages growth, anaemic productivity and continued tightness in the labour market, some economists have cautioned relief for household borrowers could be delayed.