The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced its first rate decision for the year 2020, announcing that it has held the official cash rate at 0.75 per cent.

In the lead-up to the decision, many analysts had predicted that the RBA would cut rates. However, some altered their predictions following the release of the latest inflation figures and growing uncertainty in the domestic and international economies.

The full economic impact of Australia’s unprecedented bushfire season is also yet to be seen, in addition to the effect of the outbreak of the coronavirus on international markets, and both of these factors encouraged analysts to amend their predictions for when the RBA would make the next cash rate move.

Despite the hold, analysts continue to anticipate that the RBA will make further cuts to the cash rate in the coming months, following on from reductions in June, July and October last year.