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For the fourth consecutive month the RBA has left the headline cash rate at 3%.
In a statement following the announcement, RBA governer Glenn Stevens said the global economy was stabilising "after an earlier sharp contraction in demand".
"Downside risks to the global outlook have diminished, though they have not disappeared and most observers expect only modest growth overall," he added.
Mortgage Choice senior corporate affairs manager, Kristy Sheppard said she hoped that the cash rate remaining steady for a fourth consecutive month did not lull Australians into a false sense of security.
“The cash rate will not stay at the current half century low forever, and lenders are moving interest rates regardless. We have been watching this happen over the past three or so months,” she said.
"Borrowers must be prepared now for a rise in their minimum mortgage repayment level. It is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. The market is currently pricing in a 100 percentage point cash rate rise by July 2010," she added.
The move was widely tipped by analysts and economists, though most are now predicting that the next move will be upwards.
The last time the RBA cut the cash rate was in April, when it fell by 25bps from 3.25% to 3%.
JP Morgan predicted a move upwards would not be until the middle of next year while Commsec chief economist Craig James said the economy was improving across a wide range of sectors, but it was too early to put up interest rates, the ABC reported.
While the RBA left rates on hold, today saw Westpac push up fixed rates due to increased funding costs.
Westpac's one-year fixed home loan rate went up by 10bps to 5.59%, its three-year fixed rate increased by 40bps to 6.99% while its five-year rate increased by 45bps to 7.64%.
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Housing credit nearly 1% up: RBA - Housing credit increased 0.6% over June, following a similar increase a month earlier, according to RBA stats released for June. Over the year to June it was up 7.1%.
