No change to Australian interest rates

CANBERRA - Australia's official interest rates have again been left on hold.

Following yesterday's regular monthly board meeting, the Federal Reserve Bank has left the cash rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent.

Australia has now gone an entire year without any change to official interest rates and that is expected to remain the case for some time to come.

Rates were last raised in March last year and today's decision had been widely anticipated.

Inflation remains contained, while reasonably buoyant business activity is being balanced by more subdued household spending.

In its quarterly statement last month, the Reserve Bank said it would need to respond if demand or inflation were stronger than currently forecast.

Since then, the bank's top officials have continued to state that the next move in official interest rates is more likely to be up than down.

- RADIO AUSTRALIA