Australia rate cut good for foreign builders, buyers

Singapore

AUSTRALIA's 25-basis-point rate cut to a record low of 2.25 per cent last week is expected to benefit developers with property assets and building projects Down Under, as well as those eyeing acquisitions.

It will also be a boon for homebuyers, and an even bigger one for overseas investors drawn by the correspondingly weaker Australian dollar (AUD).

But for foreign firms with investment properties in Australia, they could suffer translational losses and declines in net asset values if they have not taken currency hedges.

The Australian dollar has slumped 16 per cent against the US do…