SYDNEY (Reuters) – Economists at National Australia Bank <NAB.AX> on Thursday pushed back their forecast for further monetary easing by the country’s central bank to April from their previous call for a February rate cut.
The move aligns NAB’s forecast with financial market pricing indicating a mere 20% chance of a 25-basis-point cut to the 0.75% cash rate in February. <RBAWATCH>
The RBA holds its next policy meeting on Feb. 4 and the market had already sharply scaled back the chance of an easing following stronger-than-expected employment report last week.
(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)