CANBERRA: The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday cut its benchmark interest rate to a record-low 1.5 percent in a bid to jolt the nation’s sluggish economy amid low inflation rates. The central bank cut the cash rate by a quarter percentage point from its previous low of 1.75 percent. The board last cut rates in May. In a statement accompanying the decision, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens cited the nation’s low inflation rates as a driver behind the cut. Annual inflation is just 1 percent, far below the bank’s target of 2 to 3 percent. Stevens said growth in Australia was continuing at a moderate pace despite a “very large decline” in business investment. Economists had largely predicted the cut.
Amid Hormuz instability, attention shifts to Pakistan’s Gwadar port
GWADAR: Iran has closed and reopened the Strait of Hormuz several times since the US-Iran war began in February. When...
