Interest rates rise 3 in a row

Australia’s Reserve Bank lead by Glenn Stevens will continue leading the world in raising interest rates, with economists predicting a record fourth straight increase at the central bank’s next meeting in February.

Reserve Bank Governor Stevens will boost the overnight cash rate target by another quarter point to 4 percent on Feb. 2, adding to yesterday’s unprecedented third monthly increase, according to all 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Australia’s economy has outpaced the U.S., Europe and Japan, which have all kept rates near record lows this year. Cash handouts by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government have boosted consumer confidence and house prices, and China’s demand for resources such as iron ore from Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. has stoked a new mining-jobs boom.

“Reserve Bank officials are taking the path of least hazard,” said Stephen Walters, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Sydney, who tips another increase in February followed by further “steady” gains in 2010. “They are hiking while they have time on their side and the exit from emergency settings can be orderly.”

Below are the changes to interest rates over the past 2 years;

2 Dec 2009…….. +0.25 = 3.75%

4 Nov 2009…….. +0.25 = 3.50%

7 Oct 2009………+0.25 = 3.25%

8 Apr 2009………-0.25 = 3.00%

4 Feb 2009………-1.00 = 3.25%

3 Dec 2008………-1.00 = 4.25%

5 Nov 2008………-0.75 = 5.25%

8 Oct 2008……….-1.00 = 6.00%

3 Sep 2008……….-0.25 = 7.00%

5 Mar 2008………+0.25 = 7.25%

6 Feb 2008……….+0.25 = 7.00%

7 Nov 2007………+0.25 = 6.75%

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