SYDNEY, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided on Tuesday to keep official interest rates at a record low 1.5 percent for the 33rd consecutive month.
Despite the rate being on hold since August 2016, some analysts were predicting a cut this month, a sentiment heightened over the past week with figures showing zero inflation for the first three months of the year.
That rate is far lower than previous RBA targets of 2 percent to 3 percent, forcing them to reassess market predictions.
"The board judged that it was appropriate to hold the stance of policy unchanged at this meeting," Lowe said in a statement.
"In doing so, it recognized that there was still spare capacity in the economy and that a further improvement in the labor market was likely to be needed for inflation to be consistent with the target."
While attitudes remain mixed, a significant portion of analysts continues to predict at least one rate cut of 0.25 percent before the end of the year.
