RBA to keep rates on hold until early 2021 – Reuters poll

According to the latest Reuters poll of economists, a majority of them believe that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will keep the Official Cash Rate (OCR) on hold until at least early 2021.

Key Findings:

“Economists followed suit, with every single one of the 41 polled now predicting the cash rate at a record low 1.50 percent this year compared with three who had expected one 25-basis-point hike by end-2019.

The RBA has kept policy unchanged since the last easing in August 2016, with a median of 28 economists seeing this record stretch of steady rates extending at least until the first quarter of 2021.

Indeed, as many as 10 of 37 economists polled expect at least one cut by the end of next year compared with seven in the previous poll.

The change in outlook comes as Australia’s once high-flying property market nosedives, raising questions over its impact on consumer spending.”