The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has left the country’s official cash rate unchanged at 3.5 per cent, citing softening global growth rates and contracting commodity prices.

 

In his statement., RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said that these factors where serving to keep inflation in check and will provide other country’s with scope to ease interest rates.

 

Mr Stevens also stated that increased global uncertainty stemming from the faltering European economies had contributed to the decision, while close to trend domestic growth had given the central bank some slack to leave the rate unchanged.

 

“Inflation remains low, with underlying measures near 2 per cent over the year to June, and headline CPI inflation lower than that. The effects of the price on carbon will start to affect these measures over the next couple of quarters,” Mr Stevens said.