Australia central bank holds interest rate steady at 1.5%

Sydney

THE Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) nod to rising leverage and a pickup in home loans suggest an easing is unlikely any time soon - given the governor has financial stability hard-wired into his DNA.

Philip Lowe and his board left interest rates unchanged at 1.5 per cent on Tuesday, as expected, and reaffirmed growth would accelerate to about 3 per cent over the next couple of years despite a contraction in the third quarter. Mr Lowe also noted the global reflation story and stronger growth in developed countries, spurring commodity prices in a windfall for Australia.