SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised its main cash rate by a surprisingly large 25 basis points to 0.35%, its first hike in more than a decade, and flagged further tightening to come as it runs down the curtain on pandemic stimulus.
Wrapping up its May policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said now was the right time to begin withdrawing some of the extraordinary monetary support that was put in place to help the economy during the pandemic.
A majority of analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a rise to 0.25% given inflation had shocked by surging to 20-year highs in the March quarter.
(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Sam Holmes)
