The Australian dollar is declining against the US dollar. The current AUDUSD quote is 0.6667.
According to the minutes of the last meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia, at the meeting, the regulator considered the option of raising the interest rate by 25 basis points or making a pause. In the end, the interest rate was raised due to inflation risks. In addition, the RBA was anxious about the weak growth of productivity.
The RBA might increase the crediting cost again.
The overall forecast suggests that the CPI in Australia will have reached the upper end of the target range of 2-3% by mid-2025.
The morning stream of Chinese statistics was positive, although there had been much anxiety around it. Chinese retail sales in April soared to 18.4% y/y from 10.6% y/y previously, while the forecast was 21.0%. Industrial production rose to 5.6% y/y, while growth to 10.9% y/y was expected. Overall, the reports were stronger than the earlier ones, but the figures turned out inferior to forecasts.
The Chinese statistics are important for Australia and its national currency because China remains the country’s main trade and economic partner.