Australia Keeps Benchmark Rate at 3% for Third Month

Australia’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for a third month amid signs the lowest borrowing costs in half a century and government spending are helping the economy skirt the global recession. Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens left the overnight cash rate target at 3 percent in Sydney today, as forecast by all 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Australia was one of the few major economies including China and India to grow in the first quarter as government cash handouts and rate cuts stoked consumer spending. Growth may slow after recent reports showed exports dropped to a 14-month low, bank lending fell, home building approvals declined by the most since 2002 and... read more