RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle said the decision to lower interest rate by -0.25% earlier this week was to “support the economy as it responds to the global coronavirus outbreak”. He added that “the coronavirus outbreak overseas is having a significant effect on the Australian economy at present, particularly in the education and travel sectors.”
On monetary policy, Debelle said the central bank has capacity to lower its policy rate one more time. “Beyond that, we will have to consider quantitative easing (QE),” he added. And, “I don’t think negative interest rates are something that would be contemplating.”
