The members of the Reserve Bank of Australia are expecting moderate economic growth in the coming months, minutes from the bank's monetary policy meeting on April 2 revealed on Tuesday.
The inflation forecast leaves the bank with room for further easing, the bank said, although the rate of recovery seems satisfactory.
The bank said that inflation is likely to be consistent with the 2-3 percent target. With growth likely to be a little below trend over the coming year, an accommodative stance of monetary policy is appropriate, the minutes showed.
"Domestically, the national accounts showed that GDP growth was around trend over the year to the December quarter, but slower in the second half of the year," the minutes said. "Over the past few months, housing loan approvals had picked up for both owner-occupiers and investors, and stronger conditions in the established housing market more generally were expected to support moderate growth of dwelling investment this year."
The bank added that the global economy appears to be recovering, with the exception of Europe. Cyprus, in particular, is weighing on the Eurozone at present.
Growth in China remains steady, while conditions in the United States continue to improve.
"In the United States, growth of private demand was acting to offset the headwinds associated with fiscal consolidation," the minutes said. "While the risks to the global outlook appeared to be more balanced than they had been in the preceding year, recent events had highlighted the fact that important vulnerabilities remained, particularly in Europe."
At the meeting, the RBA decided to retain the cash rate unchanged at 3.00 percent for a third consecutive meeting.
The central bank has reduced the cash rate six times since late 2011.
"The Board's judgment remained that, on the information currently to hand, the most prudent course was to hold rates steady and to continue to assess developments over the period ahead," the bank said.
Also on Tuesday, the total number of new motor vehicles sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on month in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, standing at 95,113. Sales were flat in February.
By category, sales of passenger vehicles increased by 3.3 percent, while sports utility vehicles and other vehicles sales decreased by 0.5 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively.
By region, sales in Tasmania jumped 7.7 percent, followed by the Australian Capital Territory (2.8 percent) and Queensland (1.9 percent). Over the same period, Victoria and Western Australia decreased by 3.1 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.
On a yearly basis, new motor vehicle sales were up 4.5 percent after rising 9.4 percent in the previous month.
Upon the release of the data, the Aussie slipped against other major currencies, trading near 1.0329 against the greenback, 1.2626 against the euro, 100.25 against the yen and 1.2229 against the NZ dollar.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Forex News
April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.