Rates at 'appropriate' level, RBA says

The Reserve Bank says it left rates on hold in June as it waits to see more economic data.

A pedestrian walks past the Reserve Bank of Australia

The Reserve Bank says it left rates on hold in June as it waits to see more economic data. (AAP)

The Reserve Bank is on the hunt for green shoots across Australia's barren economic landscape that will keep interest rates on hold.

The central bank said in the minutes of its June board meeting that it was "appropriate to leave the cash rate unchanged and to assess information on economic and financial conditions as it becomes available".

The RBA board would look at upcoming data to assess "whether the current stance of policy would most effectively foster sustainable growth and inflation", the bank said.

The minutes of the June 2 meeting fit with comments made by RBA governor Glenn Stevens last week that the central bank was open to further move on rates, if necessary.

It is also broadly in line with Monday's comments from the RBA's assistant governor for economics Christopher Kent, who said monetary policy was "clearly working" to support demand.

ANZ economist Felicity Emmett said the minutes clarify that the RBA remains open to trimming rates again.

"The Bank clearly retains an easing bias, but in our view is on hold for the time being watching the evolution of the economic data," Ms Emmett said.

"They (the minutes) provided little new information on the economy or the outlook for policy."

CBA economist Michael Workman said recent economic data indicates further rate cuts may not be necessary.

"The unemployment rate has trended lower over the past six months and employment growth has picked up," he said.

"Household consumption has been stronger than expected over the past few quarters."

The RBA minutes pointed to "output growth" as a key area of concern impacting monetary policy, saying it was expected to continue below trend until late 2016.

It also highlighted spare capacity in labour and product markets, as well as weak business investment.

On housing, The central bank said it considered the very strong Sydney and Melbourne property markets at its June meeting, while also noting price trends in other cities were more mixed.

On the positive side, the minutes reveal the RBA believes growth in China has picked up slightly, and that the US Federal Reserve is likely to hike rates some time in 2015.

The RBA also said the Australian dollar "was close to the lowest levels seen earlier this year".

The local currency was relatively unmoved by the release of the RBA's minutes.


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Source: AAP


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