Reserve Bank makes April cash rate call
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced the outcome of its monthly board meeting, as SMSF trustees and professionals alike continue their search for yield in this "lower for longer" environment.
As anticipated, the RBA has kept the cash rate on hold at 1.5 per cent, marking the 19th consecutive month the rate has remained steady.
The central bank has on several occasions signalled that the next cash rate move is likely to be up, but investors are being told not to hold their breath.
“While the RBA has flagged the next move in interest rates will be a rise, it remains likely that any hike to the cash rate is well in the future,” said CoreLogic’s head of research for Australasia, Tim Lawless.
According to AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver, there are too many core factors in the current market to justify a rate rise.
“High business confidence, strong jobs growth and the RBA's own growth and inflation forecasts argue against a rate cut, but risks around consumer spending, weak wages growth and inflation, the slowing Sydney and Melbourne property markets and the still too high Australian dollar argue against a rate hike,” Mr Oliver told finder.com.au.
Mr Lawless similarly said the residential property markets, particularly on the east coast, are showing signs of a “soft landing.”
“The controlled slowdown in the housing sector is likely to be a welcome outcome from the RBA, who are more likely to be focusing on labour markets, where the rate of unemployment, although lower than a year ago, crept higher, from 5.4 per cent to 5.5 per cent in February,” Mr Lawless said.
