VIEW: Goldman Sachs note that "the weaker.......>

RBA: VIEW: Goldman Sachs note that "the weaker growth outlook will inevitably

spill-over into the labour market, and house prices are likely to soften

alongside a deterioration in buyer sentiment. Consistent with expected easing

from a number of the world's major central banks, we now expect the RBA to cut

the cash rate 50bp to 0.25% under our baseline scenario. As our global team

notes, while rate cuts won't stop the virus, they can help to cushion the

economic impact on households and markets - and if the RBA fails to cut, then we

think financial conditions will be tighter than they need to be. We view exact

timing of the cuts as somewhat uncertain, but our base case assumes a 25bp cut

in March and April and we stress that a 50bp rate cut at this Tuesday's meeting

cannot be ruled-out. While the current number of cases in Australia remains

small, we see little value in waiting given how quickly the balance of risks has

deteriorated (we note, for example, the Government's travel ban from Iran over

the weekend)."