Coming up on Tuesday, 19 December is the Reserve Bank of Australia publishing the Minutes of the December Board meeting,
- Due at 11.30 am Sydney time, which is 0030 GMT and 1930 US Eastern time.
The December meeting sailed by with barely a ripple:
- the cash rate was left on hold, as expected
- forward guidance remained unchanged from November
The focus for the minutes will be on adding more detail to our understanding of the Bank’s reasoning. However, once you sift through the verbiage the importance of the Q4 inflation data will be the key to the next move. This Q4 CPI data is released on January 31. The RBA meeting follows on February 5 and 6.
Since the December meeting we’ve had data showing:
- a barely growing economy: Australian Q3 GDP +0.2% q/q (vs. expected +0.4%)
- solid job growth but rising unemployment: Australia Nov. Employment change +61.5K (expected +11K) Unemployment rate 3.9% (exp 3.8%)
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The RBA cash rate:
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com. Source