VIEW: NAB write "the Statement suggests a.......>

RBA: VIEW: NAB write "the Statement suggests a further step toward considering

easing interest rates to support growth & the return of inflation to target. The

risk of a move at the May Board meeting has increased as it includes the Bank's

major quarterly forecast update & will likely incorporate downgrades to '19

growth forecasts & likely core inflation as well Significantly, the important

final MonPol paragraph of the Statement contained the first change in text since

Feb '18 (which was mainly a qualification to a qualification that had stood

since the Bank eased policy during '16). Why the change? Most importantly, we

suspect, Q4 GDP came in significantly weaker than the RBA was expecting. This

has led to the Bank dropping its reference to the central scenario for GDP

growth being expected to be 3% over the course of 2019."