The latest Reuters poll of 32 economists showed that a majority of them expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to leave its Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 0.75% next Tuesday.
Key Findings:
“Most economists pushed back their prediction to April, from February, just last week after better-than-expected employment data for December.
As many as 23 of 32, or nearly 72%, forecast rates at 0.5% before June with three predicting deeper cuts to 0.25%.
A median of 29 respondents expects the cash rate will remain at 0.5% through end-2020 and then ease to 0.25% by early next year.
Economists’ predictions align with market pricing which shows little chance of a move in February. Futures are predicting a 60% chance of a cut to 0.50% in April.
Analysts expect small downgrades for near-term growth due to the impact from bushfires and a rapidly spreading coronavirus that has left parts of China in a lockdown. China is Australia’s largest trading partner.”
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