Login
ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
Loan Market Group has urged the Reserve Bank to leave the cash rate on hold for the remainder of 2011.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
The brokerage’s chief operating officer Dean Rushton said the RBA’s multiple rate rises in 2010 was still having an impact through much of the economy.
“In particular the November rate increase accompanied by the banks additional rate increases has had a significant influence on consumer sentiment and many elements of the economy, particularly the home finance market and the retail sector, are still struggling as a result,” Mr Rushton said.
Mr Rushton said consumer confidence was also suffering as a result of the various natural disasters that have occurred in recent months.
“Interest rates look like staying on hold for some months and most economists are now forecasting that this year there may only be one more quarter percentage point increase,” he said.
“We would like to see the RBA stay its hand for the remainder of 2011 to allow consumer confidence to return and to take undue pressure of household budgets.”
