MNI BRIEF: RBA Sees "Alternative Scenarios" For Rates

The Reserve Bank of Australia's decision not to extend its three-year yield target to bonds maturing in November 2024 was driven by a wider range of "alternative plausible scenarios" for interest rates, according to the minutes of the July board meeting released on Tuesday.

The minutes show that previous yield target for April 2024 bonds implied that the RBA would not increase its cash rate until 2024, but the decision not to extend the target was based on the "faster than expected recovery" and potential implications for interest rates.

The RBA has held rates at the record low of 0.10% since November last year, and until recently its view has been that rates will not rise again until "2024 at the earliest" but the July minutes show the bank does not see conditions for a rate rise "before 2024."

At the July meeting the RBA also reduced its bond buying program on longer dated government bonds from A$5 billion per week to A$4 billion until November, a rate which could be reduced or increased "as warranted by the state of the economy."