Reserve Bank of Australia leaves interest rates at record low for 2 straight years

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has held interest rates steady at its August meeting, declining to follow moves in recent months to tighten liquidity by some other central banks, according to agency news reports.

Specifically, the RBA left its cash rate unchanged at 1.5 percent Tuesday as predicted by 39 out of 40 analysts polled by Reuters, marking 24 consecutive months at a record low.

A statement accompanying the decision from Philip Lowe, the central bank’s governor, gave a nod to uncertainty over US trade policy as well as household consumption domestically, in addition to noting the toll taken on Australia’s farm sector by a recent drought.

But Lowe remained generally positive and the bank forecast Australia’s gross domestic product to average “a bit above” 3 percent growth in 2018 and 2019.