Next rate move likely up: Australia's reserve bank

SYDNEY – The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its April minutes meeting on Tuesday, addressing recent falls in the housing market and household debt increases. 

With the cash rate on hold at just 1.5 percent since August 2016, there has been very little room to move for the Aussie central bank and although members still believe "there was not a strong case for a near-term adjustment in monetary policy," they did imply things may be looking up. 

"In current circumstances, members agreed that it was more likely that the next move in the cash rate would be up, rather than down," the RBA said. 

While the housing market has dipped in Sydney and Melbourne (as well as some other major cities), the RBA said a large pipeline of residential construction work yet to be completed may act to take some of the pressure off. 

But still the biggest barrier to raising the cash rate, is the surging levels of household debt in Australia which remain among the highest in the world. "Members noted that while the growth of household debt had outpaced that of income over recent years, household net wealth had continued to grow and, in aggregate, households' housing and financial assets far exceeded their borrowing," the RBA said. 

Despite the domestic pressures however, the board did seem upbeat about the global economy and conditions in China. 
"In China, the authorities had recently announced a growth target of around 6.5 percent for 2018, which was similar to the target for 2017, and a continuation of policies designed to reduce pollution and manage financial stability risks," the RBA said, adding that indicators of consumer spending in China suggested that consumption growth would "continue to run above GDP growth." The Australian dollar was largely unchanged by the release, with the currency sitting at 77.68 U.S. cents at 1515 AEST.Enditem 
---