Australia cuts key rate by 1 percentage point

Tuesday 7th October 2008

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point, twice as much as economists had forecast, to help buffer the economy from a global credit squeeze.

The bank cut the rate to 6%, effective Oct. 8, Governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement.

"Financing is likely to be difficult around the world for some time ahead," Stevens said. "The recent deterioration in prospects for global growth, together with much more difficult market conditions even for creditworthy borrowers, now present the risk that demand and output could be significantly weaker than earlier expected."

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 2.3% to 4614.9, reversing an earlier decline.

By Jonathan Underhill

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name:
Your email:	Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Related News:

Tourism Holdings Limited (NZX: THL) thl to acquire MaxiTRANS NZ
NZ Compare announces the acquisition of PriceMe
25th January 2022 Morning Report
Fonterra Shareholders Fund (NZX: FSF) Fonterra lifts forecast Farmgate Milk Price range
Green Cross Health Limited (NZX: GXH) Trading update
Ebos Group Limited (NZX: EBO) Retail Offer Oversubscribed
24th January 2022 Morning Report
ArborGen Holdings Limited (NZX: ARB) Updates Market on FY22 Guidance
My Food Bag Group Limited (NZX: MFB) Q3 FY22 Trading Update
ikeGPS Group Limited (NZX: IKE) signs $0.9m deal with tier-1 electric utility