KEY POINTS:
Official interest rates across the Tasman have remained unchanged for another month.
The last increase in official rates was in August, when the Reserve Bank in Canberra lifted the cash rate to 6.5 per cent.
Since then the US sub-prime mortgage crisis has spread to global credit markets.
A fortnight ago, central bank governor Glenn Stevens acknowledged that, as a result, there could be a further tightening of financial conditions in the Australian economy over the months ahead.
And yesterday, RAMS Home Loans became the latest institution to raise its lending rates.
In such a climate, economists had expected the Reserve Bank board meeting yesterday to decide on a continuing wait-and-see stance, despite most sectors of the economy running strongly with the notable exception of residential construction.
- RADIO AUSTRALIA