Top forecaster sees RBA cutting rate to 2%

Sydney

THE Reserve Bank of Australia recognises the limits of interest-rate cuts and has in mind a level it doesn't want to go below, according to Nomura Holdings Inc's Andrew Ticehurst, who correctly predicted every call this year.

Mr Ticehurst, one of just two forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg this month that haven't been wrong-footed by the RBA in 2015, expects Governor Glenn Stevens will lower the cash rate to 2 per cent in May from a record-low 2.25 per cent. He will then stand pat for the rest of the year to assess the impact of policy easing and a weaker currency, Mr Ticehurst said.